


Unsuspecting

by SciFiPerson



Series: Teenagers are Amazing Superheros [1]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, Post Avengers:Infinity War - Fandom, Steve Rodgers is Dead, Thanos is gone - Fandom
Genre: Angst, Avenger family, Blood and Injury, Emotions run hard, Fanfiction, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Hurt Characters, Kidnapping, Nothing over PG13, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Peter Parker Joins the Avengers, Peter Parker Needs a Hug, Peter Parker is 18+, Physical Abuse, Protective Avengers, Protective Bruce Banner, Protective Peter Parker, Protective Tony Stark, Tony Stark Acting as Peter Parker's Parental Figure, Tony Stark Has A Heart, Tony Stark is a Tough Dad, i have no clue what i am doing, slight depression, this is going to suck
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-07
Updated: 2018-07-25
Packaged: 2019-06-06 22:50:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 21
Words: 38,939
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15205214
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SciFiPerson/pseuds/SciFiPerson
Summary: I am so sorry for this, it's going to suck.Post Infinity War, Steve died saving everyone and Thanos died along with all of the Infinity Stones. It's been 2 years, everyone has already gotten over most of their worse PTSD.Peter has just graduated from high school when he ran into a young woman fighting a bunch of robbers with a metal pole. He don't have a clue who this girl is, but decided to take her to the Compound to make sure she's okay and to get her back to her family.





	1. Chapter 1-Meeting

**Author's Note:**

> I am SUPER sorry for this. This is my first work that I am going to publish, and my first try at fanfiction, so we'll see how this works out. I'm not very sure I'll finish this, but I'll try. I'm sorry this chapter is so short, I hope it will get longer as I go on.
> 
>  
> 
> I also haven't seen SpiderMan: Homecomings. :(

 

Cammie had never been more nervous in her life. Not even when she had first left home.

After two months of running away from home, skillfully hiding from all police and cameras, she had expected that she would be safe soon, safe enough to live a normal life under a fake identity. To become a fake person and forget her whole past, and her whole family.

But it got ruined.

She had gotten all the way to New York City, learning how to go from a small-town girl to a city woman. She had almost found a job, and had found a dry, empty alley to call home. She had been on her way back to it one night when she heard a bunch of footsteps coming from it. She instantly fell into a sprint to see who was there. Why would someone mug a homeless person? Who knew she was even living there?

Peering around the corner, she saw that half a dozen men had gone to her little home, finding the few valuable possessions she had left. Her gold and diamond ring and chain. The $300 dollars she had. And her black bead bracelet.

Cammie hid behind the garbage can, trembling as hard as possible, trying finding something to fight with. A long, rusty metal pole stood out in her eyes, and she instantly grabbed it. Taking a deep breath, she closed her eyes.

"Just don't think, Cam." She whispered to herself. "Just do. You can do this. You have to do this."

Yelling, she jumped out and lashed at one of the men.

\--

Peter had just gotten to patrolling and was already bored. The past month had been really quiet, and he wasn't ready for another empty patrol.

After an hour of swinging across buildings, he got a message from Karen.

"There is a mugging going on, six men verses one woman. Three alleys to your left." She said, showing  him a quick map.

"Okay, thanks Karen!" He smiled, finally getting to do something. He redirected his course to the map marker.

As he landed, Peter was surprised at the scene. A young woman, dressed in a dirty t-shirt and shorts, was fighting the men with a long metal pole. Two of the men were unconscious on the ground, bruises already forming. But the woman was taking a beating herself, with a broken nose and what may have been a bullet hole in her upper arm. But she still fought with a elegant grace.

Peter shot webs at two of the men, pulling them away from the woman, then shot the other two onto the wall. He made sure that the other for men were tied up before running to the woman.

"Miss! Miss, are you okay?" He asked, as she trembled on her knees and covered her arm wound. She fell onto her knees, grabbing a few of her things on the ground. Then she slowly looked up at Peter.

"Spider...man?" She whispered, her eyes tearing over. She tried to push herself onto her feet. "I..I'm fine.." She nearly face planted as Peter caught her.

"Hey, Miss, it's okay. I'm going to get you to the hospital, okay?" He said, picking her up.

"No..no...I can't pay..." She muttered, trying not to cry. Peter mentally slapped himself. Then he began to think.

 _Well, the Med Bay is pretty empty, and most of the Avengers already have their identities out the window. And she_ is  _kind of cute..._

"Fine. I'm going to call someone, and we'll take you to the Compound." Peter told her, knowing he was going to regret it.

"No! I'm fine here...."She fully opened her eyes and tried to break out of his hold. Even hurt, she was strong. 

"You have a freaking bullet wound in your arm!" Peter held her tighter, then opened his call link in his mask.

"Hey, Tony? I kind of need your help."

\--

With Tony's help, he got the woman back to the Compound. Her wound had ended up not being very bad, but they still kept her so she could heal. Dr. Banner had noticed that she had a sprained ankle and a dislocated shoulder, so he had treated them as well. She had been hurt, but not as bad as an average person would in her situation.

Peter and Tony stood in front of her room, staring at the girl through the one-way glass. "So, I guess she's kind of cute..."

Peter smacked the older man. "Tony! That is not why I brought her here!"

"Well then why did you, huh?"

Peter closed his eyes for a second, thinking, and sighed. "She was attacked by six men. By the time I got there, she had already nocked two of them out, but she had a bullet wound in her upper arm. She was delusional, saying that she couldn't come here and that she was to broke to go to the hospital. She seems homeless."

Tony smiled. "Yep, you're in love."

"What?! No I'm not!"

"Well, make sure to talk to her when she wakes up. I'll break the news to MJ." Tony patted the kid on the shoulder and left the room.

"I DON'T LIKE HER, TONY!!!"

"Just keep saying that, kid."

Peter sighed angerly, and continued to watch the young woman, wondering about what they would do with her when she woke up.


	2. Chapter 2--Questions

As Cammie woke up, she looked around the unfamiliar room. An I.V. stood next to her, but it wasn't being used. She was still dressed in her clothes, but she had a bandage on her shoulder and left ankle. Her nose was once again, straight. All of her injuries had been taken care of, mostly. Closing her eyes, she tried to remember where she was.

"Ah, Miss? Are you okay?" A voice asked, scaring her.

"Spiderman!" She screamed, and opened her eyes to see a young man, looking like a teenager, starting to walk in. His eyes went wide, and Cammie gasped. "I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to yell!" The man looked at her for a minute, but then smiled and blushed.

"Ya, ya I'm Spiderman. I've really got to get a voice changer in my suit." Looking crazy nervous, he walked forward and held out his hand. "Peter Parker. I'm Tony Stark's intern, and, ya, Spiderman." As she gaped at him, he gave a nervous laugh. "I'm not what you expected, huh?"

Cammie slowly reached out and shook his hand. "Cammie Laurin. Why...why did you tell me your name? You could of hidden it from me, so I could never find you ever again. Now I can tell the world who you really are."

"Well, I have this weird gut feeling to trust you, Cammie. And you've already seen my face, and you know my voice, so you could do that already." Peter backed up a little away from the bed.

"I forget everything in a day, Mr. Parker."

Peter made a weird face. "Don't call me Mr. Parker, Cammie. Peter's fine."

Cammie sat up fully, trying not to wince at the pain in her shoulder. "Why are you in here? Don't you have Spiderman stuff, or intern stuff....or maybe homework to do?" She thought that Peter looked a little young, maybe her age. So wouldn't he be going to school?

"Ah, I'm don't have homework anymore. I graduated high school last year. Spiderman work is more of a night thing, too."

"So, intern stuff?"

"I...uh...ah...I'm really...like...Tony's..son. He took me in after my aunt died. Really, it was before that, with the Vulture and Thanos, but he really, only truly became my dad a year ago." Peter looked tense, so Cammie smiled.

"So, why are you here? Here, instead of anywhere else in this area? And why the frick did you take me to the freaking _Avengers Compound_?!?! I said I didn't need a doctor." Cammie asked calmly, holding back her anger for being in a hospital again.

"Well..." Peter sat down on the other end of her bed. "I was curious. You were taking on six men with guns pretty well. Way better than I could without my web shooters. I wanted to know if you had training, or if you're a Jedi. And, I wanted to ask, are you living in that alley? It looked like you were."

"Well, first of all..." Cammie smiled and laughed quietly. "You like Star Wars?".

"Yes, I do."

Cammie beamed at him. "I have found a fellow nerd. I can't believe it."

Peter laughed. "You don't know another person who likes Star Wars?"

"Nope."

"I know my friend Ned. Maybe we can start a club." They both started to laugh, all of the tension that had been there easing away. Cammie was starting to like Peter. 

Once they stopped laughing, Cammie put her serious face on. "My dad taught me how to fight with a staff when I was younger. I never really use that skill, but it sometimes comes in handy. And I am living in that alley. My parents were poor, and they both died a little while ago." A few tears filled her face, remembering her parents, but still weaving the story for Peter. "I don't have any family nearby, and since I'm sixteen, I decided to live on my own. Which is way to hard in New York."

Peter took in her words. They reminded him of Aunt May. And seeing the tears in Cammie's eyes, he shook her unhurt shoulder.

"Hey, Cammie, it's okay. Are you smart? Or creative?"

She smiled at him. "Not as smart as Mr. Stark, but I am pretty creative, I think."

"Well, then I can make something work out."

\--

"Woah, Peter, slow down." Tony said as Peter told him about his conversation with Cammie. "I know you like this girl, but I don't adopt any random orphan off the street. I took you in because you're alone and because you're my intern."

"Tony, come on! It'll only be until she's eighteen, and then she can get on with her life! I promise, she can help with things! And she can maybe teach people how to fight. She crazy good!" Tony still shook his head. "She lovers Star Wars as much as me and Ned!" He still shook his head. "I'll annoy you less?" He didn't stop shaking. "If you don't I will replace all of your music with random poppy music, mess up Friday, and change all of the coffee to decaf!" That made Tony jump.

"You wouldn't dare..."

"Then let Cammie stay." Peter crossed his arms sternly.

"Fine! Fine, but I'm telling everyone you like this girl."

"That's the least of my worries."

Tony smirked. "Ya? I'm telling Bucky and Clint first."

Peter smirked back. "Say goodbye to your caffeine."

\--

Peter walked back into Cammie's hospital room, with a huge smile on his face. 

"Did it work? Did Mr. Stark say yes?" Cammie asked, bouncing in excitement.

"Yes, he did. But, I am warning you, the Avengers may not like you at first. And will probably make fun of you since Tony's telling them that I like you, which isn't true!" He added as Cammie blushed. "So, don't freak out. Everyone will be here off and on, but most of us are here full time. Soon I'll invite Ned over and we'll watch a Star Wars marathon. Or...we'll go to his house. He's going to freak out when I finally invite him here."

Cammie smiled up at Peter. "This is amazing. Thanks, Peter."

"Oh, but we still have to do something." Peter smirked, then bent down to whisper to Cammie, "We're changing all of the coffee to decaf, and I'm going to teach you where to go when you want to be alone. But you have to teach me your sick staff moves."

Cammie smirked up at him and held out her hand. "It's a deal, then." Peter shook her hand, and they bursted out laughing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one is a little longer than the last. I'm sorry if it feels a little rushed.


	3. Chapter 3--Moving In

It took a week for Cammie to get better enough to be able to leave the Med Bay. She had only met Tony Stark and Dr. Bruce Banner so far, but she knew she would meet the rest of the Avengers soon enough. She was fascinated by the stories that Peter had told her, about all of the things that they had told each other and had gone through. All of it was more interesting that anything she had faced when she was at home. And most of it was really funny.

The day that she was being moved into her room, Tony stopped by her hospital room. He came alone, and sat at the foot of her bed to speak with her.

"Mr. Stark? What do you want?" She asked quietly, slightly scared of the billionaire. He looked at her with a stern look.

"You know you're only staying here until you're eighteen, right? You're only here now because Peter made me let you stay." He told her, his expression never changing. "I don't have a clue what you're going to do here, that's your choice, but I expect you stay out of the hero business. I don't want to be at fault for another super hero. Got it?"

"Yes, sir." Cammie said, nodding.

Tony tried to smile, but it failed. "I hope you enjoy your time here, Cammie. It'll take some time to get used to. Oh, and don't do anything stupid." He winked. "I have cameras everywhere."

Cammie's eyes widened as she took in what he had said. Tony laughed and stood up. "Treat Peter well. He'll come in a few minutes."

Cammie shook slightly as she waited for Peter to walk in. When he did, she smiled and stood up to meet up with him.

"I went back to your little alley home." He said, walking out next to her. "I grabbed whatever looked valuable. Your soft blanket and a few of your clothes are being washed right now. I also washed off your necklace and bracelet. Oh, and your money's in your room. You may not really need it, but I thought it would be nice to have."

"That's amazing. Thanks, Peter." Cammie smiled, taking in the moment. She needed her things back, and she really needed to change. She was currently wearing a pair of clothes that belonged to Wanda Maximoff, and that alone was crazy. She wanted her own clothes back. She wanted to curl under her blanket and sleep forever.

"No problem." He led her to an elevator, and took her up a few stories. Once they got off, he led her to a room right next to the elevator. "This is your room. There are tons of rooms in this place, but most of them are being used by newer Avengers for when they visit." He pointed to a room a few doors away. "Over there is my room. If you ever need anything, then just go there. I'll help you out." He opened the door and they walked in. Cammie gasped at the room.

It was much bigger than her any room she had ever been in. It was bigger than the living room of her old house, and it had it's own bathroom. Cammie had to walk around for a few seconds to take it all in. Peter stood in the doorway and smiled at her.

"You like it? It's pretty big."

"It's amazing." Cammie whispered. Peter walked over and placed a hand on her shoulder.

"Want me to show you one of the best things about it?" He told her. "Hey, Friday!"

"Yes, young sir?" A automated woman's voice came from the walls. It made Cammie jump, and Peter laughed.

"Friday, meet Cammie. Cammie, meet Tony's A.I., Friday."

"Hello, Cammie. Mr. Stark has told me about you. I hope you enjoy your stay here."

Cammie smiled. "I will."

Peter pointed to the wall behind them. "You get your own T.V. Want to watch something?"

"Yes!"

"Do you like Lord of the Rings?" Peter asked.

"Of course. Can you get it ready so I can take a shower?"

"Don't take to long. I'll pop some popcorn." He waved and walked out of the room. Cammie felt her smile falter as she pulled out a new pair of clothes and grabbed her bracelet. She walked into the bathroom and turned the water to really hot. Then she got undressed and stood under it, trying to relax.

\--

As Peter walked to the kitchen to make popcorn, he saw Bucky leaning against the counter, his metal arm holding a mug, probably full of coffee. "Hey kid, Stark told me you got yourself a girlfriend. And she's staying here."

"She's not my girlfriend, Bucky. Cammie just needs a home right now." Peter told him, grabbing a few bags of popcorn.

"You two watching a movie together?" Bucky smiled, teasing the kid. Peter rolled his eyes and ignored him. "You know, if you two truly aren't dating, then you would change it into a group movie night, and we can all hang out. Get to know this Cammie more."

"She's still a little nervous being here. I'll ask her when she gets out of the shower. But that doesn't mean yes." Peter turned the microwave on and climbed onto the counter to get a box of Oreos. Then he climbed down to sit on the counter, and started eating.

"Oh, and you're not nervous?"

"No, I'm hungry." Peter said with his mouth full of cookies.

They sat in silence as both bags of popcorn finished popping. Peter poured them into two bowls and walked back to Cammie's room.

She sat on her bed, eyes closed and her hair in a messy braid. She was dressed in a light gray and blue t-shirt and black pants. Her hands were messing with a bracelet in her hands. Peter set the popcorn on her nightstand and sat down next to her.

She opened her eyes, and pulled her bracelet around her right wrist. "What?" She asked softly.

"I ran into Bucky. He said to prove that we aren't dating, that we should change our movie night into a whole Avengers movie night." Peter told her, and she instantly sat up. "I mean, we don't have to. Almost everyone is here right now, besides War Machine, King T'Challa and Thor."

"No, no, it's okay." Cammie smiled. "It'll be fun, meeting the other Avengers. I can do it."

Peter thought for a second, then smiled back. "Okay." He looked at the ceiling. "Friday? Can you please tell all of the Avengers in the building at this time to meet at the common room if they want to watch Lord of the Rings Fellowship of the Ring with us?"

"Yes, sir."

\--

In just an half hour, all of the avengers that were in the Compound except for Doctor Strange were in the common room, with bowls of popcorn, sitting on the many couches and seats facing the T.V. Peter had taken Cammie to a couch that already had Wanda and Dr. Banner sitting on it. Those two made room for Cammie and Peter, and they sat together to watch the movie.

As they continued to watch the movie, Cammie became more and more self-conscious of the people around her. She kept tugging on her bracelet, and soon she set her popcorn on the table because she wasn't hungry. Dr. Banner, who was on her left, tapped her shoulder. "Are you feeling okay, Cammie?" He asked quietly. Taking a deep breath, she nodded and stood up to use the bathroom. She felt every eye on her as she nearly ran off.

"Hey, Pete, your girlfriend's leaving." Clint told him from behind. Peter glared at him for a second and then adjusted in his seat, to look where Cammie had walked off.

"Hey, kid, calm down." Dr. Banner told him. "This has to be the first time she's been around a bunch of people that are focused on her. She just nervous. She'll come back when she feels better."

"I hope you're right." Peter sighed, then turned back to his movie.

\--

Cammie sat on the ground in the farthest bathroom from the common room floor, clenching her hands, tears rolling down her eyes.

It had been a whole year since she had really been with such a calming group of people, been really near people. Over two months since she had been near anyone she had ever known. And now.....

She looked at her bracelet. The only thing she knew about her true past, her true purpose. She had to step up. She had to become who she was supposed to be.

_"I don't have a clue what you're going to do here, that's your choice, but I expect you stay out of the hero business. I don't want to be at fault for another super hero. Got it?"_

She hoped Tony and Peter would forgive her.

\--

A dark figure touched the rooftops that night.


	4. Chapter 4--Silent Strike

After the movie was over, Peter went to check on Cammie. He found her laying on her bed, asleep, with her pillow to her chest. When Peter walked closer, he saw dried tears on her face, and heard her quiet mumbling.

After a minute of watching her, he sighed and walked out, quietly shutting the door. He was walking back to his own room when he saw Dr. Banner waiting by Peter's door. "How's she doing?"

"Cammie's asleep, but it looks like she was crying." Peter looked back at her room, a frown upon his face. "I should have known. Anyone else would have freaked out even thinking about watching a movie with the Avengers. But she wasn't freaked out. She was just...nervous, I think. Scared, maybe?"

"I'll talk to her when she wakes up. It's Friday, so you might want to do a bit of patrolling. Don't worry, I'll watch over Cammie. It'll get your mind off of this." Dr. Banner smiled slightly in the dim light. 

"Okay." Peter took a deep breath. "Okay. Thanks, Dr. Banner." Peter nodded and walked into his room. He shut his door and quickly changed into his Spider suit. Then he climbed out his window and hurried off into the city.

\--

It had been a busy night. He was getting tired and was ready to go home at midnight. He sat on the rooftop of his old apartment, humming quietly to himself, when he got an alert.

_Strange activity. 3 blocks to your left._

Sighing, Peter got up and swung to where the alert went off. He found a man dressed in a jacket and jeans, speaking to three women who looked terrified. "You...will do....as I tell you!" He shouted, and the women scurried back, screaming and trembling. Peter swung in between the women and man.

"Hey Mister, I don't think these ladies want to speak to you." He told the man, firing a web at the man and making him stick to a wall. The women thanked him and ran off. Turning back to the man, Peter saw him out of his web, and mentally gaped at the man. _How the heck did he get out of the web?_

The man pulled out a pair of knives out of his pockets and began running at Peter. When he got into striking distance, he swung the knives at Peter's neck. "You're going to ruin my plans, Spiderman!"

"Well your plans are probably terrible. So I'm going to stop you!" Peter had trouble blocking the knives and trying to stop the man. But the man was remarkably great.

After about two minutes of fighting, Peter knew he wouldn't be able to keep this up for long. He was getting tired, and had already gotten a few cuts on himself.

Then, a force threw the man away from Peter. A figure in full black and a heavy black cloak walked towards them, pulling out a long silver and red sword from nowhere. They looked like a sith, straight out of Star Wars. The black figure pointed their sword tip at the knife man's throat. They didn't say a word.

The man with the knives looked at the figure and Peter. Then at the figure's wrist. "It's you." The man said. The black figure moved their sword away and hit the knife man with the flat of their blade. The man was knocked out cold. Then the black figure looked at Peter.

Peter got the message. He nodded at the figure. "Thanks!" Then he shot his way back to the Compound so he could go to bed and check on Cammie in the morning.

\--

He woke up at 7am, and quickly got dressed to find Cammie.

She was eating pancakes in the kitchen, Dr. Banner still making more. Peter walked in quietly, and sat down a few feet from Cammie, dressed in her pajamas. She looked tired, but better. "Good Morning, Cammie. You doing better?"

She looked at him and nodded with a mouth full of pancake. She pushed over a plate of pancakes and syrup, then placed a fork on the pancakes. Peter smiled and got a plate. He took five pancakes and covered them in syrup. Cammie watched him, astonished.

"That is a  _lot_ of food." She said, her voice faintly hoarse.

"I have an enhanced metabolism. It makes me need to eat a lot more." 

Dr. Banner laughed and put more pancakes on the pancake plate. "Many of us have that, Cammie. We go through a lot of food. It was worse when Peter was your age."

"Enhanced metabolism and teenage metabolism? That sounds scary." Cammie joked and smiled to herself. Peter and Dr. Banner looked at each other and smiled.

After a few minutes of small talk, a few people walked into the kitchen. Bucky stole the plate of pancakes and just started to eat the pancakes off the plate. Sam tried to take the plate, but Bucky held him back with his metal arm. Clint, like the father he was, sat down between Peter and Cammie.

"You feeling better, Cam?" He asked softly. She nodded.

"I'm fine. I'm just not used to people that much. But I'll get used to it." She replied, taking another bite of her second pancake. Clint nodded and stood up. 

"Well, I'm hungry. Bruce, got any more?" He asked, grabbing a plate. Dr. Banner put a few pancakes on Clint's plate and Clint left, saying that the kitchen was to crowded. Cammie finished her food and set her plate in the sink. Bucky had relented and gave Sam some of the pancakes, and watched Cammie awkwardly start to leave the room.

"So, Cammie." He said, teasingly. She froze. "I heard that Peter is the person that's letting you stay here. He's a nice guy, you know. Although I thought he had trouble talking to girls..."

"Shut up, Bucky." Peter warned, looking at Cammie's clenched fists. She closed her eyes and walked out of the room quietly. She walked to her room and changed into a light green shirt and light blue jeans. She was brushing her hair when there was a nock on her door.

She opened her door to find Peter standing awkwardly in the doorway. "Hey Peter." She said, twirling her hairbrush in her hand. "What's up?"

"I wanted to talk to you. I feel really bad for last night. I shouldn't have made you watch the movie with everyone." Peter walked in, shutting the door softly. Cammie walked to her bed and sat down, beginning to braid her hair.

"It's fine. I've been away from people for so long, that I guess I wasn't ready. But I'm perfectly fine." She told him, distracting herself.

There was an awkward moment of silence. "Can..I tell you what happened last night? While I was on patrol? I don't really want to tell Tony, and I don't know who else to tell."

She smiled at him. "Sure, I don't mind."

Peter told her about the knife man and the black figure. About all that happened the night before. She sat with a curious look on her face. At the end, she was silent for a second.

"Silent Strike." She said.

"What?"

"That's what I'm naming the black figure. It sounds....kind of mysterious and cool? And you can't keep calling them 'the black figure'." Cammie smiled.

"What's the knife man's name?"

"Knife man."

"Creative."

"I know." Cammie stood up and set her hairbrush on her dresser. "I'll come up with something later."


	5. Chapter 5--Training

Two weeks had passed since Peter had ran in to 'Silent Strike' or 'Knife Man'. He had gotten used to the weird schedule that Cammie had made, so he could figure out when were good times to train with her. It was something that helped relieve some of her stress, so Peter decided to go with it.

They each taught the other their best skills. Cammie taught Peter how to fight with a staff, using the punching bags as dummies. She couldn't help but laugh as he awkwardly swung one of the staffs, lightly hitting the punching bag. She grabbed his staff and tapped his shoulder.

"God, Peter, you know Tony's a billionaire. I think we can risk breaking a few punching bags." She handed the staff back to him. "Now, try again. And put some of your Spiderman strength into it." She moved back a few steps, and grabbed her own staff. "Let me show you how it's done."

She stood ten feet away from a punching bag, her staff firmly in her right hand, with her left hand angled at her side. Then she rushed at the bag, jumping when she got close and landing a hard strike on the side, making it fly to the ground. When she landed, her staff had landed in her left hand. She gripped it in the middle, and it was extended from her side. Her right arm was angled like a shield in front of her. A rush of adrenaline filled her eyes. After a second, however, she smiled and the look faded. She turned to face Peter, who was looking at her, astonished. The look made her giggle to herself.

"H..How? Are you sure that you were never given any enhancer-thingy to make you stronger and faster? You moved like freaking lightning!" Peter asked, clenching his staff at his side. "Those were some real moves."

The sound of footsteps filled the room. "Well, well, good job, Cammie." Natasha said, walking in along with Clint. "You look like a real fighter."

Cammie gave a nervous smile. "Ya, thanks. I've been practicing for years. My dad began teaching me when I was about seven. He kept saying that self defense is important, and that once you master the staff, you can master anything."

"Well, I would like to see Peter one-up you." Natasha turned to Peter, who was blushing. "Go ahead, Spiderman."

"Uh...I can't. We haven't been practicing much." He whispered. Cammie smiled and walked over to pat his shoulder.

"He just needs more practice. Anyway, you still need to help me with fist-to-fist fighting. We'll pick up tomorrow. Go put these away." She handed him her staff and he walked away to get ready for the next lessons.

"Wait, you can fight with a staff, but not with your fists?" Clint asked, confused. "I mean, I don't expect kids to know much fighting, but I thought that the first type you learn is fist?"

"It doesn't make sense, but it's how I was raised. Neither of my siblings wanted to learn, so my dad only had me. Mom thought it was a terrible thing to teach a young child, but I was taught non-violent discipline before I was taught fighting. I think Dad avoided teaching me fist fighting so I didn't use it at school, and just forgot when I got older." She suddenly felt terrible, but shook her head before she could really feel anything too bad.

"Well, good thing you have the Avengers, and that you know how to act around them." Natasha smiled at the young girl. "Your dad must have taught you pretty well."

"He only taught the best." Cammie smiled back, biting back any sadness as Peter came back.

"Come on." Peter told her, then looked at Clint and Natasha. "Care to help? We're really bad teachers for each other."

Clint smirked. "Great. But we have to show her how it's done. Come at me, Peter."

Peter stared at the older man. "Really?"

"Yes, really. Come on. You want to teach your girlfriend."

"Cammie's not my girlfriend." Peter growled, but got ready to rush.

"Ya, just keep telling yourself that." Clint smiled, and Peter ran up at him.

As she stood safely to the side, Cammie watched as the two men fought, but it was fast and hurt her eyes trying to keep up. 

"You know, Clint's a father." Natasha said suddenly.

"Really?" Cammie looked at her, surprised. "Do they live nearby?"

"No, but sometimes Clint stays here to help us. He'll be leaving soon to go back there. You know, he named his youngest after Wanda's brother. Well, his youngest's name is Nathaniel Pietro Barton. Pietro was Wanda's brother."

"Why did he name Nathaniel after him?"

"Did you ever hear about the floating city we defeated Ultron on?" When Cammie shook her head, she continued. "Well, Clint, the idiot, was going to save a kid that had been left behind. Then, as the Ultron bots shot at him, Pietro ran over and blocked all of the bullets from hitting Clint. Did I say he was super fast? Well, I guess Clint felt guilty, so he gave Pietro's name to his son."

"That's.....amazing." Cammie said, focusing back on the fight. They had stopped since Clint was on the ground, panting.

"I..am...getting...to old for this." He wheezed out. Peter smiled and helped the man up.

"Go get a drink. You should have remembered that I am superhuman."

"You're....eighteen.."

"And you're fifty."

"Forty-nine!"

Cammie smiled. She watched as Clint walked out of the gym. Then Peter faced Cammie.

"Come on, I'll go easy." He said, with a nervous smile. 

"You better. I'm only an average human, and I'm sixteen." Cammie slid her foot back, like she was fighting with her staff once again. But now her hands with fidgeting. She was ready.

Right as he was about to say something, Cammie ran towards him. Caught off-guard, he tried to get her, but she slid to the side to dodge and elbowed him square in the back. He tumbled a few paces, and that gave her time to kick his legs out from under him. As he fell over, however, Cammie grabbed the collar of his shirt so he didn't hurt himself. She looked up to see Natasha's surprised and satisfied expression. Cammie pulled Peter back to his feet, and he gaped at her.

"How.....??? You have to be superhuman!" He told her. Cammie only shrugged.

Natasha walked over. "I have to say, that is astonishing. I bet Tony will say the same when I show him this footage. You got all of that, Friday?"

"Yes, Natasha." The AI said, instantly making Peter's face turn white.

"Oh no, no, you can't show that to Tony!" He yelled. "He'll never let me live it down!"

Natasha smirked. "Oh, I know. That's the whole point." She looked down at her watch. "It's twelve. You two want to go out for pizza?"

"No, let's get Chinese." Clint said, coming back with a water bottle, half empty. "We have pizza way to often."

"Well, Peter, Cammie, what do you two say?" Natasha asked.

"I say pizza." Peter said, looking at Cammie. She quickly looked nervous.

"I was thinking Chinese." She admitted, and Peter rolled his eyes.

"Well, since I'm the oldest, I count as two. Chinese it is!" Clint said, and Cammie smiled.

"What? That doesn't count!" Natasha complained, but smiled and followed him out. Cammie and Peter looked at each other.

"Are they always like this?" Cammie asked.

"Yes."

"Well, it's amazing. They're like my old friends." 

"Well," Peter said, guiding Cammie through. "They are mentally teenagers."

\--

As they were walking to the garage, they ran into Doctor Strange, leaning against the wall, dressed in normal black clothing. "Where are you four going?" He asked, looking directly at Cammie. Her eyes went wide and she fidgeted with her bracelet.

"We're going to go get Chinese after a long morning of training." Natasha told him, in an emotionless tone.

"You mean after you did nothing all morning besides watch the two kids fight in the gym?" Clint asked her, and she slapped him.

"Well, you're supposed to tell Tony whenever you take his kid out. You know that." Strange interrupted, glancing back at them.

"We were going to tell him, as we were leaving." Clint told him.

"I'll tell him for you." Strange sighed, and pushed off the wall.

"Oh, Strange," Natasha said. "Ask Friday to watch the footage from the training session when you tell Tony. It's pretty funny."

"No it's not!" Peter exclaimed. "Don't watch it! Don't show Tony!"

Strange smiled. "Well, now I have to show him. You're welcome, Peter." 

Peter groaned, but kept following the other three to the garage.

When they entered the garage, Cammie held back a gasp. The place was full of slick, good-looking and probably extremely fast cars. She couldn't drive and didn't know much about cars, but she knew these were very expensive and very amazing.

She was led to a full black car, with slightly tinted windows. Natasha got in on the drivers side, and Clint on shotgun. Cammie and Peter climbed into the back and sat next to each other. Cammie could see faint embarrassment in Peter's face. She smiled at him.

"Don't be so embarrassed, Peter." She told him quietly. "No one always wins."

Peter sighed, and leaned his head back. The two older adults looked back at him. 

"Pete, you feeling okay?" Clint asked, worriedly.

"I'm imagining Tony's face. Oh God, he's going to be disappointed." Peter complained.

"Hey, he's going to be laughing at me too, kid. I lost to you, and I'm one of the original Avengers."

"You lasted longer than he would have." Cammie told Clint, and he broke out laughing as Natasha started the car.

"You're right, kid. You're right." Clint smiled at her. "You're not so bad, you know. How long you staying here at the Compound?"

"Two years. I'm sixteen right know. I'm leaving at eighteen."

"Well, stay longer. I don't care what Tin Can says. You're great to have around."

"Trust me, Clint, I want to." Cammie smiled, finally feeling like she was apart of the group for once.

"Okay, Clint. Where's this Chinese place you want to go to?"

\--

Lunch had been great. Cammie was told stories about the Avengers, back when they were just six people. They told of a bunch of events that were never shown on TV, and some even Peter was surprised at. 

When they returned back to the Compound, Natasha asked, "So, Cammie, where are you from?"

"Huh?" She replied, confused.

"You know, where did you live before coming here?"

"I'm...from Newark."

"Why'd you come to New York?"

Cammie was hesitant, trying to think. "My....My parents and siblings died over a year ago. I spent a whole year still going to school, but I....broke and ran away. I didn't plan on coming to New York, but I guess I just did."

Everyone was quiet. Then, as Natasha parked, she turned back to Cammie. "Well, then it was lucky that you came across Peter." She said, sincerely. "We'll help you."

She didn't realize she had tears in her eyes until she wiped one from her cheek. "Thanks. I....I really appreciate it."

"No problem, kid."

They climbed out of the car, very awkwardly. Cammie couldn't take the tension anymore. "I'm going to my room to take a shower. I'll see you guys later."

With that, she hurriedly jogged out of the garage, and into the building.

"Wow." Clint said after a minute. "That is...dark. It makes me miss my kids."

"She's been through a lot lately. That's why she's not really talked to anyone besides me since the failed movie night." Peter told them.

"I feel terrible. Should we tell everyone else?" Natasha asked.

"Don't tell them the whole story. But if you see anyone picking on her, and she isn't fighting back, tell them to drop it." Peter said. "It's the best we can do."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm hoping for this to get more exciting in the future. It will, I just don't know when and exactly how. But I'll figure it out.
> 
> Also, the fact that Clint named his son Nathaniel Pietro Barton is 100% true. I found that out and thought it was cool, so I acknowledged it. Clint has something with the Maximoff's.
> 
> PS I don't know much about fighting, I just thought that's how it would go  
> PPS I'll give you more Irondad/Spiderson in the future if you want


	6. Chapter 6--Aunt May

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I realized that I haven't mentioned what happened to Aunt May, or why Peter is living with the Avengers, so I figured I can do 1 more chapter before real problems erupt. There's going to be some Irondad in here, so don't worry.
> 
> Also, this is super-short. The next one will be longer.

Peter was feeling stressed as he walked back to his room, comparing Cammie's situation to his own with Aunt May. He had tears in his eyes as he shut his door and fell onto his bed.

A little over a year ago, a few months after he had told Aunt May about being Spiderman, he had come home stressed and hurt with a sprained ankle. His aunt had gone out to buy ice cream, because she always helped him when he felt like that.

There had been a robbing at the store she went to. Five people were shot, and May had been one. Peter had felt so guilty, and had felt broken for months. But he couldn't tell anyone. Not Ned, not MJ, not Tony. On top of the nightmares of Thanos, the nightmares of Aunt May made him scared to sleep at night.

A month after her death, Peter had a lazy day being Spiderman, so he couldn't help but think about everything. After a few hours, he had stopped because he had a shortness of breath. He hadn't realized he was having a panic attack until Tony had appeared to calm him down.

A little while later, Tony had adopted Peter. The nightmares and panic attacks slowly stopped, but it still hurt to remember.

Peter had started crying quietly, kicking off his shoes and covering himself with a blanket. He didn't hear the door opened, and was surprised when there was a hand where his head was under the blanket.

"Pete?" Tony asked quietly. "You feeling okay?"

Peter didn't stop crying as Tony pulled off the blanket and pulled Peter into his lap, running his fingers through Peter's hair. "It's okay, kiddo. It's okay." Tony whispered.

They stayed that way for awhile. Once Peter's sobs had quieted, Tony pulled him up to look at him.

"You feeling better?" Tony asked, and Peter nodded, wiping his eyes. "Do you want to talk about it?"

Peter nodded again, falling back against the wall. "I....I remembered....A..Aunt May. C...Cammie reminded....me..." Peter stuttered, clenching his hands until his nails cut into his skin. 

Tony pulled his hands apart. "What did she say?"

Peter took a deep breath. "Nat asked her about life and why she was in New York. Sh..she told Nat and Clint that she ran away after her parents died...so it reminded me of Aunt May...." Another tear fell down his cheek.

"Hey, Peter, it's okay..." Tony pulled him into a hug. "You've had a tough time."

"Cammie's worse..." Peter mumbled.

"Oh, Peter....." Tony said, combing Peter's hair. "We all have tough times."


	7. Chapter 7--Injuries

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Say goodbye to the fluff, hello to the angst. :)
> 
> Blood Warning  
> Slight Depression Warning (I didn't originaly think of having depression, but it spilled out)

A few nights later, after a few more days of training, Peter was out being Spiderman after checking on Cammie. It was a normal Wednesday night, and he had stopped to take a breath when he heard a gunfire. Quickly, he ran over.

It was a mugging, and the gunfire was only at the wall. A man held a gun at another man's face. Peter shot a web at the gun and pulled it up out of reach. He set the gun on the roof and swung down.

As the man being mugged ran away, the mugger started to fight Peter, in a normal fist fight. Peter knocked the guy to the ground, and webbed him in place. Then Peter pulled out his phone and got ready to call the cops when there was a sickening laugh from behind.

Turning around, Peter saw that the man was up again, and he shuddered when he saw the eyes of the Knifeman. Knifeman held a gun at Peter, and a knife in his other hand. "I warned you, Spiderman. You're messing with my plans. You're corrupting what I need. I can't allow this. My apologies."

Knifeman aimed the gun, and fired three times.

\--

Peter laid on the ground, feeling the holes in his body ooze with blood. It didn't hurt, because he was in so much pain. One in his shoulder, another in his stomach, the last in his hip. He felt his life slipping away. It felt like he was drowning. In blood?

He knew that his sensors were broken. If they weren't, Tony would have already saved him. Something was wrong. He was going to die. He couldn't. He had to go back. He needed to help Cammie. 

But he was dying, and had no way to get any help.

Then, he heard sluggish footsteps running towards him. The faintest gasp. Then, a tingling where the bullets pierced into his body. Then, he felt the pain and groaned, feeling tears. He struggled to open his eyes.

A full black mask. A robed figure, leaning over his body, bare hands over his wounds. Their hands were small, pale, and girlish. Silent Strike? Are they...a girl?

Then, Silent Strike tucked their arms under Peter and picked him up. He moaned loudly, and they set their hand on Peter's chest, causing all of the pain to leave. Peter gasped, and looked straight at the person's black metal mask. "Silent Strike?" He whispered, as they quickly jogged away like Peter was merely a doll.

Silent Strike looked down at him, not breaking stride. "Can I call you that?" Peter asked, a little louder. They nodded. Then Peter looked at their hand, which was now mysteriously gloved. "Your hands, their girlish. Are you a girl?"

Silent Strike shook their head. "So you're a guy?" They shook their head again. "You don't want to tell me, huh?" Now they nodded. "Great. Can you take me to the Avengers Compound? Maybe contact Tony?"

Now they stopped. Silent Strike looked back down at Peter. Then, a warmth filled the air, and they were on top of the Compound.

"What the....?" Peter cried out, almost falling out from the small arms that held him. "How did we get here?" Silent Strike, as in character, stayed quiet. "Quick, go inside. I'll direct you to the Med Bay."

But as he finished, Dr. Banner and a few of the Med Bay doctors ran up, seeing Peter being held by Silent Strike. "Oh God, what happened?" Dr. Banner cried out, rushing over. "Don't worry, I've got him." He said as he pulled Peter into his arms, sagging under the weight. "On second thought, can you help me take him down to the Med Bay?"

Silent Strike nodded, and they all rushed into the building. Slowly, the pain came back to Peter, and he clenched onto Silent Strike's arm. 

When they got to an empty room, Silent Strike set Peter down gently. 

"Friday, can you tell Tony about this?" Dr. Banner asked the AI.

"I am required to tell both Tony and Cammie when Peter gets injured." Friday replied. Peter grimaced.

_Cammie? Oh, God,_ Peter thought, feeling the pain creep back in.  _No, not now. She can't see me like this._

But Peter was in to much pain to speak. Silent Strike, black clothes covered in Peter's blood, gave a silent hand wave and disappeared. 

\--

Cammie ran from her room, still dressed in her pajamas and barefooted. She got to the Med Bay in mere minutes.

"Dr. Banner?" She asked, panting, as she approached the room. "Is Peter okay? Friday told me he got shot."

"Breath, Cammie." Dr. Banner told her calmly, and waited until she was breathing normally. "He's fine. He lost a lot of blood, but we keep extra. And the black figure? Peter called them 'Silent Strike'? I guess that they found him and helped save him. The wounds were cleaned and partly healed by the time Peter got here. He's currently asleep."

Cammie sighed in relief. "Thank God." Dr. Banner led her into a chair nearby Peter's room, and she collapsed.

"This rarely happens, but Peter is a superhero. It does happen. But we're handled for it." Banner told her, soothingly. 

Cammie smiled at him, and blinked heavily. "You want to sleep here?" He asked her.

"Yes. Thanks, Dr. Banner." Cammie replied, and was led inside the room. Glancing at Peter, she saw that he was covered in a blanket. His face looked calmed and peaceful. Much more peaceful than she had ever seen him. Cammie sat down on a huge chair in the corner in the room, and curled up to go asleep. 

Sleep hit harder that she had expected.

\--

When Tony finally got to the Med Bay and into the room Peter was in, he saw Cammie asleep in the corner, curled up in a chair.  _'She told Nat and Clint that she ran away after her parents died...'_ He instantly felt a ping of dread and pity for the young girl. 

But when he turned to Peter, to his peaceful sleeping figure, he instantly felt better. Peter was okay. That strange person who had brought him here, saved his life. Tony had to thank that person. They were great.

"I'm so happy he's okay." Tony said softly to Banner. Flashes of Titan ran in Tony's brain. He shuddered at the thought.

"Well, that Silent Strike person, as Peter and Cammie call them, truly saved him. I think that the person has magic. Healing magic, and teleporting magic. They disappeared from the building and somehow got on top of the Compound." Banner replied, just as quietly. "We'll ask him when he's better."

Tony looked back at Cammie. "Those two been spending lots of time together?"

Banner laughed. "They eat breakfast together every morning, and train every afternoon. Sometimes they hang out with Clint and Nat, but it's usually just them." He sat down next to Tony. "I've been watching them. Since that movie night. Cammie's been feeling better, and they're both happy, so I think that something's brewing."

"They're in love, Bruce." Tony said flatly, grinning widely. "It's obvious. And it's adorable."

"Well, they're young. We'll see how they pull through."

"Oh, I can't wait. Did you see them training together? It's hilarious."

Banner smiled. "Show me later."

Tony stood up and stretched. "Well, I would stay here, but it's already occupied. Tell Friday to tell me when he wakes up."

"Goodnight Tony." Banner said.

"'Night, Bruce." He replied, waving and leaving the room.

\--

When Peter woke up, he felt pain were his wounds were. Still, he sat up and looked around.

He smiled when he saw Cammie sleeping in the corner. She was leaning against the wall, still dressed in light gray pajama shorts and a light blue shirt. He knew that there was no possible way that she was comfortable. 

Peter looked at the door as Dr. Banner walked in, dressed in normal doctor clothes. "Feeling better, Peter?" He asked, siting at the end of the bed. 

"Yes." Peter nodded, moving his legs out of the way. His eyes drifted to Cammie.

Dr. Banner caught his gaze. "She's been here all night. She was so nervous, she was trembling."

"I'm happy she came." Peter said randomly. "I don't know why, but she helps calm me down."

"Don't let Tony hear you say that." Dr. Banner joked. "He came in after Cammie last night."

Peter rolled his eyes. "I'm getting used to it. But don't tell Tony."

Dr. Banner stood up. "Well, before Cammie wakes up, we should check on your bullet wounds."

Peter carefully pulled off his shirt, revealing three points that were bandaged. Carefully, Dr. Banner unwrapped the bandages and looked at them.

Each one of them were mostly healed. Dr. Banner started to cut the stiches out of the wounds. As he moved to the wound on his chest, there was a  _thump_ and a cry. It made both Peter and Dr. Banner jump, pulling the scissors away. 

They looked over at Cammie, who had fallen on the floor. She pushed herself up and looked over at Dr. Banner and Peter. Then she smiled. "Peter! You're awake!" She cried out, pushing herself up to her feet. She stumbled but caught herself. Peter saw that she purposely looked away from his chest, which made him laugh to himself.

"Cammie, can you go up to Peter's room and get him a change of clothes?" Dr. Banner asked. "And you may as well change yourself."

"Okay, Dr. Banner!" Cammie waved and began to leave.

"Cammie?" Peter asked. "Can you get something for me to eat? I'm starving."

"Sure!" Cammie jogged out, her messy braid bouncing around.

"She seems energetic." Dr. Banner pointed out, going back to cutting out Peter's stiches. "Why are you smiling at yourself?"

Peter blushed. "Cammie was purposely looking at my face."

Dr. Banner laughed quietly. "She's a girl, and not used to seeing shirtless men. It's so simple, but every girl goes through that phase."

"That is one of the weirdest things you have ever said." Peter smiled as Dr. Banner finished. Peter pulled his shirt back on and waited, hearing his stomach growl.

A few minutes later, Cammie came in, holding Peter's clothes in one arm and a bag of Lays in the other. She dropped all of her stuff onto the bed and took a few steps back. "I'm going to go eat breakfast. See you later!" She smiled awkwardly and left quickly..

\--

Cammie breathed a sigh of relief as she walked back to the kitchen. She was still tired. Her head hurt like crazy, but she knew medicine wouldn't help. She had to fight it. Like she was meant to. Like she has since she told Natasha and Clint her past. Or, what they needed to believe.

She poured herself a small bowl of Fruity Pebbles and a small cup of coffee that she had began drink after she had began sleeping less.

She ate half of her cereal before she couldn't eat, and she set threw it away. Cammie knew something was up. But she couldn't tell anyone. Finishing her coffee, she set the cup on the counter and walked to her room.

Laying on her bed, she felt tears of pain fill her eyes. The headache was only getting worse. She longed to take painkillers, but it wasn't really pain. She knew that she had to get help, but she couldn't.

Gritting her teeth, she pulled a pillow over her face and let a few tears out. She tried to calm down, to go visit Peter. Make him happy. See his smile. But she couldn't. Her head hurt. She remembered blood. Her mom. Dad. Her siblings. Nightmares of her friends.

After a few minutes, she moved the pillow from her face. Standing up on shaking knees, she walked into her bathroom. To her sink, splashing her face with hot water. Forcing a smile, remembering the happy and peaceful moments in her life.

Pulling herself together, she left the bathroom and went down to the Med Bay, to hang out with her one friend she had left.


	8. Chapter 8--Reveal

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter switches POV a lot, so keep in track
> 
>  
> 
> More Blood!

Cammie had made sure Peter was okay, keeping a happy persona. It was a struggle, but she was able to get some alone time. But she knew it wasn't tricking everyone. Maybe Peter, but not everyone.

She had seen the way that Dr. Banner had began to look at her. He knew something was up. 

But she had to act innocent. Keep up this old her. It helped keep the headaches away. Be happy, and her brain would suffice. 

\--

When Peter had finally went back as Spiderman (after begging Tony for hours) he felt that he should have stayed. He had no idea why he should have stayed, and he wasn't going to go back, but he wanted to.

\--

A black hooded figure sat on a swing set in an abandoned part.

_ Silent Strike _ , they had been called. It was a name that they liked.

Silent Strike tugged at the bracelet around their wrist. Everything special about them came from it. Everything good and magical. And every dark and bitter and bloody moment that they had suffered through.

_ Everything that has happened to you, everything that will happen to you, is in cause of  _ you _. You choices, your actions, are yours to decide. No one in all of the universes can predict your future. Because they haven't happened yet. And most, most never will. _

They would never get that voice out of their head. Never. None of the voices. So they had to put an end to the source so no more would come. So that they can save the one they loved. So they could save the ones they care about.

Quietly, Silent Strike stood up, not moving the chains as they jogged through the night. They felt a familiar dark presence. And they had to stop it. Had to stop the Knife Man, before they could revive the worst enemy of the Avengers.

\--

Dr. Banner knew something was up.

After looking in the eyes of the young girl when she ran down to make sure Peter was okay, he knew something was up with Cammie. Something dark, darker than when he had seen Peter lose his Aunt.

"Friday, is Cammie in her room?" Dr. Banner asked the AI, even though he knew the answer.

"No. Cammie is not in the Compound." Friday said, her plain voice making the situation worse.

Dr. Banner stopped. "Wait, Cammie's not in the Compound?"

"No. She disappeared a few hours ago."

Dr. Banner cursed under his breath, believing the worse. "Find her."  _ No, no, she couldn't... _

"Yes, sir."

\--

As Silent Strike jogged down the empty roads, they felt the presence of the man. They broke into a run, feeling the familiar weapon of a sword in their hand before it appeared. Turning into a busier road, they noticed the Knife Man was watching a building carefully. Feeling a deep feel of dread fill their body, Silent Strike rushed at the man.

He turned around as Silent Strike summoned their sword and struck, teleporting them away from the normal people, before breaking out into a fight. Knife Man was prepared for the fight, bringing out a pair of knives and blocking the swing with an elegant grace. A fight broke out, the two amazing swordsmen dueling each other. It would be a battle until one of them got tired, and Silent Strike knew Knife Man never would tire out, so they knew that they would lose. But Knife Man had to go down. He was a threat.

"You going to speak,  _ superhero? _ " The man teased, knowing the past of the hero. "Don't want your precious boyfriend to know who you really are? Cammie Laurin?"

Cammie growled, and blasted the man away from her. She ripped the black metal mask from her face and throwing it away.

"I am not scared of letting Peter know who I am, Mortem!" She yelled out, walking closer. "I'm only scared of what he'll do to protect me. Because he's reckless."

Mortem jumped up, pulling his knives out again. "I'll kill him anyway. Or my Master will."

"Not if I kill you first."

"You can't. You're too scared."

"I have to. You'll murder the only people I have left." Cammie held her sword out, and it changed into a bladed staff, like the ones she had trained with. Quad-tipped, and she had grip the blades. So she turned her gloves into Vibranium.

Starting the duel once more, being more reckless then she had ever been. It was stupid, but she had to, to protect everyone. She took a bunch of cuts all over her body, but didn't stop. She kept fighting. 

The duel went on forever. Cammie felt her eyes grow heavy. She focused on the moves she tried to teach Peter. Moving elegantly and quickly.

Until Mortem stabbed Cammie in she stomach, causing her to stop. As his knife left her body, Cammie fell to the ground. Tears filled her eyes.  _ I couldn't stop him....He's going to kill Peter.... _

"Say hello to the Devil when you get down there, miss. I'm sure going to miss fighting you. You're fairly pretty." Mortem smirked, and ran to jump off the building. Cammie knew that he survived. 

She fell onto her side, clutching her stomach. Slowly, her Silent Strike outfit fell away. She closed her eyes.

Only a few days ago, she herself had saved Peter from Mortem. Healed his wounds enough for him to survive.

With the last of her strength, she healed the organs that had been pierced, so that if anyone could save her, they had time to do so. But she felt that no one would come and save her.

Closing her eyes, she mumbled a few incoherent words before she fell unconscious.  

A light green glow surrounded her.

\--

"Bruce, I believe I have found Cammie." Friday said after a long half hour of stressing. "She has appeared in her room, but she unconscious and losing blood quickly."

"WHAT??" Bruce yelled, running out of his office, to the girl's room.

\--

When he reached Cammie's room, he saw the young girl bloody on the floor. Instantly, he picked up the light girl and ran back to the Med Bay.

"Dang it, we've been using the Med Bay way too much nowadays." Bruce whispered, keeping a hand on her neck to keep a pulse. He hoped that there wasn't any blood getting on the floors. 

\--

The injuries that Cammie had gotten were crazy, and there had to be a story behind them. Cuts and bruises all over her skin. A huge gash in her stomach, still oozing blood. Quickly, he cleaned the wound and stitched it up. Then he covered her cuts with medicine. In the light, her skin was paler than normal, and covered in blood. Her skin was sweaty and hot. Her hair was tangled and dirty. This.... _ what was this? _

Once he had gotten her all cleaned up, however, she was covered in dark clothing for split seconds. It faded and came back rapidly. Bruce took a few steps back, recognizing the semi-familiar clothing. Then, dressed in her black clothing, she bolted up, staring straight at Bruce.

"Dr. Banner?" She cried out, her voice reaching high pitches. Her clothes were covered in blood once again. Bruce took another few steps away.

"Cammie..." He tried to steady his voice. "Calm down. Everything's okay...."

She transformed back into her normal clothes and placed her hand on her huge wound. A light glow erupted, and it stayed for a few seconds. Once it was gone she bolted up and stumbled. Bruce ran out to catch her.

"I'm fine!" She pushed off of him, and tried to run to the roof. Luckily, the door was locked, and she just slumped against the door. Slowly, she slid onto the ground, tears in her eyes. Bruce crouched down next to her, and pulled her away from the door.

"Calm down...you're okay now...." Bruce rubbed her back and she started to cry.

"He...He's going to...to...." Cammie sobbed. "Peter...."

"Peter's not going to be angry, Cam."

"I don't care If Peter's angry!" Cammie yelled, looking straight at Bruce. "Mortem's going to kill him! Because I didn't kill him first!"

Bruce was taken back. "Who's Mortem?"

Cammie's eyes teared over again. "He's the one that can destroy the universe. He's the reason why I'm Silent Strike. He's going to kill all of the Avengers. He's going to kill everyone he needs to before they bow to him. I'm the only one who can stop him. But I'm not strong enough." Cammie pushed away and curled up. "It's my fault. I even trained to stop him. I've suffered for over a year because I needed to stop him." She wiped her eyes. "It's because of Mortem that I traveled across the United States alone after my parents died. And I failed."

After a few minutes, Bruce crawled over, scared to seem to harsh, and pulled her into a gentle hug. He had no clue what she was talking about, but he knew that it was true. "Don't worry, Cam. If you have to stop this Mortem, then we'll help you. You have the Avengers."

"Don't tell Peter." Cammie whispered as she cried. "I don't want him to get killed over me."

"Whatever you need." Bruce told her, knowing that he couldn't keep his word for long. "Come on. I don't know what you did today, with Mortem or with healing yourself, but I do know you need a nap." He picked her up again and laid her down on the bed. "I'm going to make sure that there isn't a mess around."

"Thank you." Cammie yawned and wiped her eyes again. She pulled the blanket over her small body and her shuddering breathing slowing. Once it was nearly normal, Bruce grabbed a washcloth and retraced his steps.

There was only a little blood in Cammie's room that was quickly cleaned up, so it didn't give Bruce much time to think about the situation. He didn't believe anything Cammie said was a lie. Not even the part that only Cammie could kill this Mortem. But he knew Cammie would need help.

As he left the room, he thought that Cammie could need a change of clothing. Her current ones were covered in blood, and she clearly didn't want anyone else to know. He began to hurry back down to the Med Bay.

\--

Bucky had woken up to a headache. After realizing that it was midnight, he decided to get some painkillers and try to get back to sleep.

He hadn't expected to run into anything.

In his tired state, he didn't realize there was someone running until they were nearing into him. Bucky stopped the person with his normal hand and turned to see who the person was. 

Bruce looked frightened, holding something in his arms that couldn't be seen in the faint light. But Bucky could see splotches of something on his clothes. Something was wrong. 

"What are you doing, Bruce?" Bucky asked, nervous. Bruce sighed, and took a few steps back into a better light. Now, Bucky could see the blood all over Bruce's clothes, and saw unfamiliar clothes in his arms.

"If you want to know, then you have to keep it secret." Bruce told him, stepping out of the light. "It's very important."

"Of course I will." Bucky replied. "Take me there."

Bruce led Bucky down, getting more tense by the second.

\--

In the Med Bay, Cammie was fast asleep. Bruce set down her clothes on a counter and turned on the light as Bucky took in the scene.

Only now they could see the blood on the floor and walls and bed. Bruce sighed at the scene.

"What the heck happened?" Bucky asked, looking back at Cammie. "What happened to her?"

"I don't know the whole story." Bruce started to clean up some of the blood on the floor. "It's why you have to keep this secret. She doesn't want anyone to know." Bucky had realized his headache was gone. So he grabbed another cloth and started to clean off the walls.

"She got into a fight...." Bucky took in. "She's a superhero?"

"Silent Strike. You know, the hero that saved Peter a week ago? It kind of makes sense. If you think really, really hard."

"Dang. She looks nothing like a hero." He looked back over at Cammie, who was mostly covered in a blanket. "But....I knew her abilities were different..."

"She lied to everyone, doing her best to protect everyone." Bruce looked at the young girl again. "I'm going to ask her about her life when she wakes up."

The girl pulled the blanket over her head, and mumbled, "Shut up and turn off the lights!"

The two men smiled and left, shutting off the lights to let the girl sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I want to ask, how do you guys like Cammie? I hope I made her likeable.


	9. Chapter 9--Death & Movies

Peter crawled through his window, yawning. He stripped out of his suit and into sweatpants and a shirt. Falling on his bed, he tossed a blanket over him, to tired to do anything else. Everything around him was blocked out.

Even the worried voices of two of his friends.

\--

When Cammie woke up after making Bruce leave, she felt so much better. Her face was dry from all of her tears. Pushing herself up, she tried to remember all what had happened the last night. Looking around, she saw bits of blood on the blanket and the floor. Then, she looked at she clothes. Still, covered in knife cuts and dried blood. Her stomach as still covered in blood, but she knew the wound was healed. God, she needed a shower.

As the door opened, Cammie glanced at the people walking in. Dr. Banner slowly moved in, followed by Bucky. Her eyes went wide. "Dr. Banner! I told you not to tell anyone!" She cried out.

"Sorry, Cam, but I kind of ran into him. If I didn't tell him, he would have learned anyways and been angry." Dr. Banner replied.

Cammie watched Bucky carefully. He carefully held his normal hand at her. "Cammie, I'm sorry if I annoyed you before. I was just picking on you because it meant picking on Peter. I won't do it again."

Cammie nodded and shook his hand. "I don't really care anymore. But I'll forgive you." Then she looked at Dr. Banner. "Can I go take a shower? I'm still covered in...dried blood." She looked at her shirt, which had to be ruined.

"Sure." He pointed at a pile of clothes. "I got you a new pair of clothes. Um...you'll need to throw away your clothes though."

"I know." Cammie jumped up and pulled her clothes off the counter. Then she jogged out to the showers she had noticed in one of her earlier visits, ducking into a woman's shower. She quickly stripped out of her clothes and turned on the water. 

As the warm water hit her cut skin, she resisted the urge to scream. The water burned her open cuts, but she had to clean them. Still having her bracelet on, she healed her cuts until they had fully disappeared. Then she quickly scrubbed off the dried blood off of her skin and out of her hair.

When she left the showers, she pulled on her new clothes, happy to have clear skin once more. She set her hand on her old clothes and burned them, making them disappear without a puff of smoke. They were ugly anyways.

She brushed her hair with a hairbrush in the showers, looking at her waist-long hair in the mirror. It was shinny and straight for once, no longer wavy since she brushed her hair. She looked back at her hair and tied it into a high ponytail, braiding it down her back. Then, she walked back to the Med Bay room.

\--

When Peter woke up, he walked slowly to the kitchen.

He was surprised to not see Cammie already eating breakfast, but he just guessed that she was still sleeping. Not bothering to look at the time, he grabbed a box of cereal and poured a huge bowl. He ate in silence.

He missed the calming presence of his friend. Glancing at the time, he nearly dropped his spoon.  _8:00_.

"Friday, is Cammie awake?" Peter asked the walls.

"Yes."

"Can you ask her to come down here?"

"I'm sorry sir. Cammie is eating breakfast with Dr. Banner."

"Why?" Peter said, confused.  _Since when did Cammie eat breakfast without him? Besides when he was hurt?_

"I do not know. I believe Dr. Banner is teaching Cammie something."

Peter fell back into silence. He slowly finished eating, wanting to go to Cammie but not wanting to disturb anything. 

After he finished eating, Peter went back to his room, to call Ned since he hadn't in awhile.

 _"Hey, Peter."_ Ned said in a tired voice.

"Hey Ned. Did I wake you up? I'm sorry."

_"No, I woke up a few minutes ago. Why are you calling me?"_

Peter blushed. "I felt kind of lonely."

_"Tony busy today?"_

"Yep. Pretty much everyone is." Peter thought, realizing that he had never told Ned about Cammie. "Oh, a new person came to the Compound about a month ago."

_"A new superhero? Really? Who are they?!?"_

"No, she's not a superhero." Peter sighed, knowing Ned had caught on to 'she'. "Her name's Cammie, but she's not staying forever. Only for a few years."

 _"Cammie? A_ girl _??? Dude, how old is she?"_

"What the heck, Ned?!?" Peter fell onto his bed, knowing he had to spill. "She's sixteen, and she's leaving when she turns eighteen."

_"Dude, you so like her."_

"No, I don't! You're just like Tony!"

_"Ahh, you have to like her. So.....does she like Star Wars?"_

"Why do you care?"

_"I need to know about her, too! I need to see if she's worth it!"_

Peter sighed once more. "That was one of the first things I learned about her. I was thinking that the three of us could binge-watch all ten episodes together. But, if you can't act mature..."

_"Oh, no, I'll act mature. Trust me."_

"Well, try and find a time that would work. I'll talk to Cammie. See you later."

_"See you later, man."_

As the call went off, Peter closed her eyes. Ned is such an idiot.

\--

Cammie ate breakfast with Dr. Banner and Bucky, telling them all she knew about Mortem.

"He's much more powerful than me, I know that for sure. And his powers are nearly identical to mine. But he can't heal people. He can corrupt people. But first he has to get close to them." Cammie said at the end of the explanation.

"So, why is he after us?" Bucky asked, taking a drink of his coffee.

"We're the only things in his way. You guys, the Avengers, can't kill him, but you can delay him. He needs you guys gone so he can kill me before I kill him." Cammie poked her fork into her waffle. "He knows everything about me, every little thing. He knows how to make me angry. He knows my weak points. He knows that I can't let anyone here die."

Dr. Banner patted her shoulder. "We're the Avengers, Cam. We fought Thanos, and won. I think we'll be okay helping you."

Cammie smiled up at him. "I know you will. I trust you guys." She took a bite of her waffle.

"Okay, I have to ask, how did you become this?" Bucky asked suddenly. Cammie's eyes widened.

"Well," She said, waving Dr. Banner's comment away. "I lived in Washington before."

" _Washington?_ " The two men gasped, dropping their forks.

"Yes, Washington. I was born and raised in a small town. I've been sixteen for a little over a month now, and I left the town when I was fifteen. A little over a year before that, my parents and siblings died in a car crash." Cammie looked down at her waffle and took a bite. "I continued going to school, but was even more introverted than before. But, one day, I snapped."

"How? Did someone hurt you?" Bucky asked.

Cammie giggled. "Funny enough, it was because of my friend, Hannan. He..." She laughed again, remembering the awkward moment. "He asked me out because he thought I was lonely. Something in me that day snapped, and just ran away." She quickly fell serious once more. "I guess I passed out somewhere, and when I woke up I was in the hospital. I stayed there for a few days. But, on the night I was supposed to leave, I got a dream. The dream told me that my future couldn't be determined anymore. That is was fully my path. When I woke up," Cammie lifted her arm up, showing her black beaded bracelet to the men. "This was on the nightstand. I put it on, and I was gone. Then, I just ran. By two months, I was in New York, and now I'm here."

Bucky and Dr. Banner were silent for awhile. They ate in silence as the men figured out what she had told them. 

"That is crazy." Bucky whispered, picking up his plate. "I'm going to go to the gym to think. See you guys later."

"Don't tell anyone, Bucky." Cammie warned, pointing her fork at him.

"I won't."

Dr. Banner stood up also. "I better get going, too. See you later, Cam."

"You too, Dr. Banner." Cammie waved at him as he left and she was alone.

She looked down at her waffle. It was half-way eaten, and the syrup was all over the plate. She wasn't very hungry, but she knew she would be later. She took a drink of her coffee and quickly finished her waffle.

As she walked out of the Med Bay, she heard Peter's energized footsteps coming towards her. Smiling, she ducked out of the way as Peter walked by, clearly going to find her. Taking quiet footsteps, she creeped up behind Peter and grabbed his shoulders and tried to hide as he turned around.

"Dang it, Cammie!" Peter said with fake anger and a huge smile. She reluctantly walked out and grinned. Peter started walking the way he came, with Cammie by his side. 

"Hey, do you know a good time when we can binge-watch Star Wars with Ned?" Peter asked as they walked.

Cammie stopped and sighed. "Peter, I am a sixteen year old girl that has no job or classes to go to. I have nothing to do every day. As long as you and Ned are free, I'm free." She smiled and took a few steps to catch up. 

"Well, we have the rest of the morning and all afternoon. I'll go call Ned and see if he's free. Come on!" Peter grabbed Cammie's wrist and they hurriedly walked to his room.

\--

Once Ned had agreed that he could come over, Cammie and Peter drove over to his apartment. They decided to have it at his house since many of the Avengers were currently at the Compound. Peter was a little nervous bringing Cammie to meet Ned, but he knew it would work out.

When they parked at the apartment building, their car stood out a lot. To avoid starrers, they jogged into the apartment and rode the elevator to Ned's apartment door.

As Peter knocked on the door, Ned opened the door. He was dressed in a Star Wars t-shirt, which reminded Peter how long it had been since they had really hung out. And now he had brought a girl.

Ned looked over at a nervous Cammie. "You're Cammie, right?" He asked happily. "I'm Ned."

"Ya, I know..." Cammie said awkwardly. Ned opened the door wider and they walked in. Cammie set down the bag that was full of popcorn, M&Ms, Skittles, Reese's Pieces, marshmallows, bottles of soda, and all of the movies that Peter found in the Compound.

"God, how much stuff did you bring?" Ned asked loudly at the bag.

"Peter insisted that we bring all of the junk food in the Compound. I dwindled it down to just candy and soda. And the movies are in there." Cammie smiled at the bag. "And he was a jerk and made me carry it."

"Dang Peter! Be a gentleman!" Ned joked, punching Peter's shoulder.

"Shut up, Ned. And stop complaining, Cammie. I know you're nearly as strong as me." Peter said quietly, embarrassed. Cammie smiled at him.

Ned smiled at the two and sat down on one of the corners of the couch. "Well, why don't you put the movie in, Peter? Cammie, since I don't know you, you don't have to do much. Just sit down."

Cammie carefully sat on the other end of the couch as Peter inserted Episode 1 into the PS4. Then he grabbed the controller and sat between his two friends, giving each of them a soda and box of candy. Then he played the movie.

At the beginning, the three were tense. But when Cammie laughed at one of the scenes that made the other two laugh, and all of the tenseness left. Peter was relieved that Cammie felt better about being there. He longed to wrap his arm behind her, but resisted. He didn't know why he felt that way.

The time flew as they watched through all of the movies. Between each, they would take bathroom breaks and grab more snacks. Between each trilogy, they ate a small meal before returning to the movies.

By the time they had entered into the Sequel Trilogy, Cammie curled up her legs onto the couch and buried the back of her head into the couch. Unconsciously, Peter's hand falls onto Cammie's knee. The tips of her fingers met the back of his hand, so Peter didn't move his hand when he realized he'd moved it.

As the end credits of The Last Jedi played on the screen, Ned got up and stretched. Cammie quickly moved her hand from Peter's and stood up to, flicking on the lights. Peter, getting the memo, took the movie out of the PS4 and set it back into the case. Then the three of them picked up all of the trash that they had made. Soon, they sat down on the couch again. Peter looked at his watch. It was midnight.

"God, it's late. We should get going." He said, upset. He stood up and grabbed the bag with the movies. Yawning, Cammie stood up after him.

"Oh, okay. Bye you two." Ned waved, walking them to the door. After saying their goodbyes, Peter and Cammie walked down the hall and to the elevator.

"What time is it, Peter?" Cammie asked softly, tired.

"Past midnight. Don't worry, I told Tony that we'd probably get back really late. He won't care." He stood next to her, watching as she yawned. As the elevator opened, they slowly walked together to the car.

On the way back, Cammie dozed off, and Peter had to shake her awake. They walked together to Cammie's room. 

She laid down on her bed, already half asleep. Not even trying to make her change into pajamas, Peter just pulled a blanket over the girl. He gently touched her forehead, and she softly leaned her head against it.

Tired himself, Peter smiled and walked back to his room.


	10. Chapter 10--Thor

When Cammie woke up the next morning, she just wanted to go back to sleep. She didn't open her eyes, and felt sleep come back.

"Wake up, Cammie." A familiar voice said, shaking her awake. Cammie pushed his face away.

"I'm tired. Go away." She mumbled, reaching for her blanket. Tony pulled the blanket off of her.

"I don't care. Get dressed, Cammie. We have a visitor coming today, and I figured you'd want to meet him." He threw Cammie's blanket on the floor as she opened her eyes. "And if you go to bed before getting changed, at least take off your shoes."

"'K." Cammie sat up and climbed out of her bed. "Leave, now. I have to get dressed." She pushed Tony out of the room, and quickly walked to her dresser. Pulling out semi-nice clothes, she got dressed and unbraided her hair. She brushed her hair and pulled out the ponytail, deciding to keep it down until she ate breakfast. Then, she left her room.

Stepping out, she saw Peter leaving his room, too. Tony had to know how to wake him up, and Peter most likely got dressed quickly, so they came out at the same time. Cammie rushed up to meet him and they walked to the kitchen together.

"Did Tony tell you who the visitor is?" Cammie asked him as a greeting.

He looked confused. "Tony didn't say there was a visitor. He just told me to get up." Peter sighed. "He had to wake you up too, huh?" She nodded. "You almost passed out on the way back here last night, so it's no surprise. I hope you're not too tired."

"I am too tired." Cammie rubbed her eye again. "I'm always too tired."

"Let's get some coffee into you. If we have a visitor, then it's either Thor or King T'Challa. And King T'Challa doesn't really like to leave Wakanda, so it's probably Thor." Peter smiled. "Oh, you're going to like Thor. Just don't drink anything he offers you."

"Got it." Cammie yawned again.

"Cammie, Mr. Parker, Boss has asked that you go down to the common room. You will be taken out for breakfast this morning." Friday told them, and they changed course to the elevator.

"Wait, I'm invited too?" Cammie asked the AI.

"Yes. Boss said to bring you along."

"Of course you're coming, Cam." Peter told her, wrapping his arm around her shoulders. "You're one of us. I even think Tony's starting to like you."

Cammie looked up at him, confused. Peter quickly moved his arm. "Sorry." He muttered. She sighed.

"Th...that's not what I meant." Cammie said, embarrassed. "I was thinking about Tony. He's barely spoken to me. How can he like me?"

Peter slowly wrapped his arm around her again. "I seen him. He's asked people about you, and I know he liked our stupid training video. Maybe he seemed mean when you first spoke to him, but he isn't bad. I promise."

"I know." Cammie grabbed at the hem of her shirt. "He's just different."

"Am I different?"

"Yes. But a decent different." Cammie smiled awkwardly up at him. She let go of the hem of her shirt and leaned slightly on Peter. "This doesn't mean what you're thinking." She added as he jumped. "I'm just tired."

\--

As the elevator door opened, Cammie quickly but gently pushed off of Peter and stood stiffly next to him. When she saw the empty hall, she instantly relaxed. Both Cammie and Peter swung their arms, the back of their hands barely touching occasionally. 

Then, Peter stopped Cammie. After a second, he whisper, "They're talking about us." Then he smirked. "Wait here." Peter climbed onto the wall, and crawled onto the ceiling, towards the common room.

Using her own non-magic stealth tricks, Cammie carefully moved towards the room, wanting to hear the conversation. She watched as Peter climbed past the doorway as no one watched. She quickly moved into the doorway gaps.

Carefully, she watched Peter move closer and closer to the group of people, but staying in the shadows. Then, as he hung over Tony, he shot his web at a glass and pulled it up to him. He held onto it as he crawled back into the shadows, then stuck it into the ceiling. Tony reached down to grab his glass.

"Hey, Bruce, what happened to my coffee?" Tony asked him, looking around the table.

"I didn't touch it." Dr. Banner replied.

As they tried to figure out where the glass went, Peter slowly took more off the table and stuck them in different places. After he had about five, he crawled back and Cammie went farther back in the hall to meet up with him.

"That's for waking us up." Peter whispered. "Now shh. It never happened."

Cammie nodded, forcing her emotions back to a mild happy. Together, Cammie and Peter walked into the common room.

"Finally! I woke you guys up ten minutes ago!" Tony exclaimed as he noticed the pair.

"Cammie took forever to brush her hair." Peter explained. "And I would feel bad leaving her."

Thor noticed the unfamiliar young girl. "Ah! You must be Miss Cammie." He said happily. "Clint and Nat have told me much about you."

"Uh, hey, Thor." Cammie waved and smiled. How different her life was now.

"Can you two help us with something?" Clint asked. "Tony's coffee is gone, and I don't want to deal with a cranky Tony."

"Hey, mine's gone too." Sam had looked back at the table. "A few more are gone."

Tony crossed his arms and looked at the two teenagers. "Okay, you two. What did you do?"

Cammie crossed her arms right back at him. "You really think we did something? Peter told you, we just got down here. I had to brush my hair, and it was really messy."

"Hey, I think I found them!" Wanda exclaimed. "They're....on the ceiling?"

Everyone looked at Peter, who started to blush. Then he smiled weirdly. Cammie sighed.

"You're an idiot, Peter." Cammie muttered.

"I can't help it!" He argued. "Yes, I took them. As a innocent joke!"

The room was silent. Then, Thor laughed. "That is an amazing joke, Man of Spiders!" He nearly yelled. "How did we not notice you?"

Cammie fired back, "Because people nowadays care more about coffee than about mischievous teenagers." She stared straight at Tony.

"How dare you?" Tony said in mock offense.

"You woke us up early." Peter told him. "So I got payback for the both of us."

Tony gestured at the two. "Guys! This is true love!"

Cammie looked at him evilly, taking a few steps closer. "I'll show you what true pain feels like."

"Woah kid, calm down." Nat told her. "We can't risk breaking Tony's back. He's kind of important."

Cammie stopped, and sighed. "You're right." 

"Okay, I'm hungry." Bucky said. "Let's go get food."

Tony scowled at the young girl. "We'll need at two cars to get there. I've reserved it for us, so there hopefully won't be to many people and we can sneak Cam in. Wanda, Peter, Sam, Bucky, Strange, and I are going to be in one car. Clint, Nat, Thor, Bruce, and Cam are going to be in the other. Drivers are Nat and myself. Okay, chose your cars."

Everyone started walking to the garage. Dr. Banner walked up to Cammie. "Did you hide Peter from us?" He whispered.

"No. He used his own stealth skills. If I used anything, I would have hidden Peter's face when he broke his face shield." Cammie smiled. "He has a dark side."

"But he's Peter!"

"Even the best Jedi tap into the dark side sometimes." Cammie smirked up at the older man. He sighed.

"Oh God..."

\--

"Turn on the radio, Nat!" Clint complained as they drove. "It's going to be a half hour drive!"

"Uh, fine!" Natasha flicked the radio on, turning it to the pop station to annoy everyone. But the song that was playing was one that Cammie really liked, so she instinctively started lip-syncing to it as she stared out the window.

"No! This is horrible!" Clint tried to changed the station, but Nat slapped his hand away. 

"Someone seems to like it." She joked, watching Cammie in the mirror. Cammie quickly blushed and stopped moving her lips. "No, it's fine. You like this song?"

"It's one of my favorites." Cammie replied softly.

"Can you sing it to us?" 

Cammie's eyes widened. She had taken Choir throughout middle school and in her freshman year, so she could sing pretty well. "Yes....Yes, I can."

She waited for the next verse until she started. "In time, you'll see..." She began to softly sing the song. "...and a down payment, on a mansion..."

As the song ended, everyone clapped. "Thank was great, Cam." Dr. Banner told her, patting her shoulder.

"You must have been practicing!" Thor said. 

"Well, I did Choir from sixth grade to my freshman year. And I got into the chamber and swing choirs as early as possible." Cammie told him, knowing he knew nothing of the Earth grading system.

"Why didn't you take it in you sophomore year?" Clint asked.

"Because I never took my sophomore year." She replied.

"Oh, right."

Natasha smiled. "Okay, Clint, you're up!"

"What?"

"Sing for us!" Natasha laughed. "We can't put Cammie on the spot like that all of the time. And you're the parent here. All parents can sing."

"I can't even sing that stupid star song!"

"You mean Twinkle Twinkle Little Star?" Dr. Banner asked. "Even I know that one."

"I have never head a song called that." Thor said, confused.

"It's a song most of us learn when we're toddlers." Cammie told him. "I haven't sung it in years."

"Maybe you should teach Clint." Nat said, but Cammie shook her head. 

"They didn't invent YouTube for nothing."

As the drove on, they talked about anything that came to mind. It was a quick and fun drive.

As they got closer, they got a call from Tony. "Okay, we're parking. Looks like no one else is here. But we need an cover for Cammie."

"Easy." Cammie told him before anyone else could speak. "I'm someone's cousin, who really missed her cousin and was lucky enough to be able to visit them while hanging out with the Avengers." She had already made a cover story.

"Wow, kid, that was quick." He replied, astonished. "We'll play you as....hey, Nat?"

"Okay, okay." Nat smiled. "We'll make it work."

"Perfect. Park next to us." Tony's call ended, and everyone sighed.

"Great cover, kid." Clint told her.

\--

When they parked, everyone climbed out of the car. Cammie stayed in character and stood next to Natasha. Still a little nervous about eating with everyone, she kept close to Nat, but also a bit distant. Walking in the door, Natasha slung her arm over Cammie's shoulder.

A young, nervous waitress grabbed 11 menus and led the group to where two tables were pushed together. Cammie sat next to Natasha and Peter, and quickly opened the menu. After a few seconds, Peter tapped her shoulder.

"I can't chose." He whispered, and pointed at two things on the menu. Biscuits and gravy, and Country Fried Steak with eggs and hash browns.

"Mmm, I'm getting biscuits and gravy." Cammie replied, looking back at her menu.

"Well, then I'll get Country Fried Stake. I'll just steal what you don't eat." He smirked at her, and she kicked him.

As Cammie turned the menu over to look at the drinks, something caught her eyes. "They have hot chocolate!" She smiled at herself.

"Really?" Peter looked over at her menu. "I need that."

Cammie smiled at him. "Copycat." 

When the waiter came to take their orders, they each gave them their orders. Cammie felt bad for the waitress, taking the orders of 11 people, and having some of the greatest superheroes in the world in her restaurant. When she finally got to Cammie and Peter, Cammie gave her a comforting smile and gave her small order.

Once she had left, Cammie watched Peter as he messed with his silverware. On her other side, the Avengers were having a quiet conversation, while her and Peter were silent. Cammie tied her hair back into a sloppy ponytail and began to braid it.

When their drinks came, she stared at the hot chocolate, covered heavily in whipped cream. When one was set in front of Cammie, she smiled again at the waitress with a quiet 'thank you'. Then she pulled her straw up and took off some of the cream. Then she stuck it in her mouth, getting all of the whip cream off.

Peter watched her with a small smile. Then he did the same. They kept doing that with smiles. Then, after awhile, Cammie mixed the rest of the cream into her hot chocolate and took a sip. Even as it burned her tongue, it tasted good. 

When the food began to come, Cammie got hers before Peter. She had biscuits and gravy, and a few pieces of toast. She flashed her eyes over at him, knowing he was hungry. She pushed her toast towards him. "Eat a piece before you start to eat your fork."

"Thanks." He took a piece and quickly ate it as Cammie took a bite of her biscuits. Then, as everyone else got their food, Peter started to quickly eat his own food. Cammie took back her toast and ate the only piece that was left. Then she took a long drink of her slightly cooled down hot chocolate.

She ate all but about half of her last biscuit. Then she took another drink of her chocolate since she was full. Peter finished eating his food and smiled at her. "You're full?" He asked. Cammie nodded. Then he looked over at the older adults, making sure that they weren't watching. Then he took her plate and took a bite of her biscuit. "That's really good."

"I know." Cammie gave him a huge smile and took another drink of hot chocolate. 

They waited for awhile in silence as everyone else finished. When they began to leave, Peter gently brushed her hand before following Tony. It made her smile as she went to the car to get back to the Compound.


	11. Chapter 11--Voices

Thor was staying at the Compound for awhile. He made Cammie nervous whenever he was in the same room as her. So she kept to herself, staying in her room, outside around the Compound, or in the gym in her free time. Peter was trying to be there, but there was times when she was alone, training for an upcoming fight that was bound to happen.

When she wasn't training or working out, she was in her room or outside, taking pictures of the autumn leaves with her phone or drawing pictures of whatever came to mind. Since it was still warm-ish, she only wore a light blue jacket over her normal clothing. 

One morning, while she was drawing outside, she had closed her eyes, trying to think of something to draw. She forgot that she was wearing her bracelet. When she was, she focused on not doing anything that could cause anything. But today she was tired and wasn't focused.

_Hello? Hello?_

Cammie screeched and fell over. Never,  _ever_ had she heard voices since she got the bracelet. But she was curious, and wanted to know what they wanted. Somehow, the voice was familiar. But she couldn't place it.

She pushed herself up and leaned against a tree, facing away from the Compound. Closing her eyes, she focused on the voice.

 _Hello? Can you hear me?_ It was a man's voice.

"Yes, I can hear you." Cammie replied, softly. "Who are you?"

_You don't know me? Well, I don't think I've met you. I'm Steve Rodgers._

"Wait, Captain AMERICA?" She gasped, almost losing focus.

_Yes. Okay, I must ask you, who are you?_

"My name is Cammie Laurin. I'm.....living with the Avengers at the moment." She stuttered.

 _Really? That's perfect._ But...what _are you? No normal human could speak to the dead._

"I am....kind of human? I was born human, but I have a bracelet that has this magic-y stuff. So there's something special about me, but I don't know what it is."

_Okay. Why are you with the Avengers?_

"I was attacked by a few muggers about a month ago, without anything really to defend myself, and I was saved by Spiderman."

_Oh, Peter Parker? Tony's kid? God, that kid was brave. Are you around his age?_

"Don't go all Tony on me." Cammie threatened. Captain America laughed.

_Sorry, kid. So, back to serious business. I've felt something weird going on in New York. Something...like Thanos._

"Mortem. That's his name." Cammie struggled to keep her eyes closed. "He's like me. Almost identical." A tear rolled down her face. "He's going to kill everyone if I don't kill him. Peter, Tony, Dr. Banner, everyone."

_Well, do they know who you are?_

"Only Dr. Banner and Bucky. And only by accident."

_You're friends with Bucky? Do you mind telling him that I miss him?_

"Sure....But why are you talking to me?"

 _You're the first person I've spoken to since I died. When I started to feel something, I knew I had to speak to you._ His voice became fainter.

"Uh...Mister Captain America?" Cammie asked.

_I have to go. Talk to you later, Cammie._

When the connection broke, Cammie fell to the ground, sweat falling off of her face. She hadn't realized that it was so hard to hold the connection. Wiping the sweat off her face, she turned onto her back and closed her eyes. She pulled her bracelet off her wrist and set it next to her, taking deep breathes.

Captain America. Steve Rodgers. The superhero that gave his life to save everyone from Thanos. Who had died two years ago. Who the whole world had mourned over. How?

_I've felt something weird going on in New York._

_Something...like Thanos._

Mortem couldn't be that bad. Not Thanos bad. Not so bad that it took the Avengers and the Guardians of the Galaxy and time travel. Not so bad that the heroes had originally _lost_ to. The lost that no one else but the Avengers remembered.

Then, something tapped her forehead. "Hello? Are you awake?" Peter asked, and Cammie struggled to stay still.

"Seriously? I don't want to wake you up..." He muttered, brushing a piece of hair off of her face.

"Fine. I'll just take you to your room." Peter slowly walked around and sighed. "I don't want to pick you up."

But as he hesitantly put his arm under her neck, Cammie's eye's snapped open. "Pick me up, and you're dead." She growled with a smile.

He jumped back. "Really, Cammie? I have you." But he crawled over as Cammie sat up. "Idiot."

"I am a great person." She replied, sitting up against the tree. "You just can't see it."

Peter smiled and grabbed her notebook. "What have you been drawing?"

"Random things." She told him, closing her eyes again.

After a minute, Peter said, "What's this?"

Cammie opened her eyes and looked at the page. It was a sketch of a very complicated dress, which was knee-long with lace and crazy sleeves and a ribbon tied tight in the skinny waist.

"That's called a dress, Peter. Girls wear them sometimes." She said sarcastically. He rolled his eyes.

"Well, it looks nice. A lot of them do." He moved next to her and both of them looked over the pictures Cammie had drawn. It was full of sketches of clothing and people and plants and all types of things.

"How do you draw so well?"

"I am a god."

Peter looked at her strangely. Cammie smiled.

"YouTube."

They continued to flip through the pages, until they got to a poem. Quickly, Cammie took the notebook, embarrassed. "Nope. You can't read that."

"Oh, come on...." Peter grabbed the other edge of the notebook, but didn't pull. Cammie quickly took the notebook and hugged it to her chest.

"No. That's private." She had completely forgot she had wrote that. It was one of the first things she had put in the notebook, and it was when she was depressed. It was way to dark for anyone else to read. And it would worry Peter way to much.

"Fine." He leaned back against the tree, and Cammie made sure to keep the notebook close to her. Her cheeks were still red.

They were silent for a bit. Then, out of the blue, he gently brushed Cammie's hand. She tensed up and blushed harder. 

His hand moved back. "Sorry." He muttered. 

Then, slowly, she moved closer to him, until their shoulders were touching. She was still super nervous. Then, Peter wrapped his arm around her and pulled her closer, leaning his head into her hair.

They stayed silent. It was nice, and a lot of stress Cammie had gotten from trying to deal with Mortem faded away. They didn't move for awhile. Then, Peter's phone buzzed and he quickly moved. Looking at his phone, he sighed.

"There's a mission I have to go on." He handed her the phone and she read the text. 

_Avengers-_

_We have a mission. Sorry for the short notice, but we apparently need everyone._

_We're leaving in two hours. Get pack for enough clothes for a week, and get to the jet._

_Details on the way._

_\--Tony_

"A  _week_?" Cammie asked, astonished. 

"Longest mission I've been on since Thanos." Peter took his phone back and stood up. "You want to come?"

"Of course I do." Cammie grabbed her notebook and stood up, knowing that she wasn't going on the mission. Just to say goodbye. Peter grabbed her wrist and they quickly walked inside and to his room. 

When they got into his room, Peter fell onto his bed. "Uh...why do I have to go on a mission?"

Cammie sat down next to him. "Because you're an Avenger. This is your job. You get all this great stuff, and get to live with such great people, and get to be respected by the whole world. But in return, you have to fight for the people who can't themselves."

"But it's a _week_! And you're going to be here alone!" 

The thought of that filled her head, but she knew it wasn't true. "I'll be fine. And the week is just an expectation. Hopefully, it's be quickly."

He sat up and looked at Cammie. "You should come along."

"That's too dangerous. Maybe I can fight, but not well enough."

"Something bad is going to happen here, I know it will."

Knowing that his words were probably true, she moved over to him. "Nothing bad will happen. Trust me."

After a second, Peter pulled her into a hug. "But I know it'll happen."

"And if it does, Strange will bring you back before anything bad happens."

He was silent for a few seconds, then let go. "I need to pack."

"Okay." Cammie laid down, closing her eyes. She heard him start to pack a backpack with his clothes.

It wasn't the first mission he'd been on since she'd came here. But the last two were only a day long and with just a few people. Now, she'd be alone in the whole Compound for a week. It was the longest she'd been alone since she came. She hoped she wouldn't go to crazy.

When Peter finished, he laid down next to her. "I'll miss you."

"I know." Cammie smiled.

"Why do we almost quote Star Wars when we say goodbye?"

"Because we're nerds."

Peter laughed. "How could I forget?"

"You're nerd brain takes in so much information that you forget the simplest things in life."

Peter moved and pulled her back up. "Perfect explanation."

They hugged again, and stayed quiet for a few seconds. "Have fun." Cammie whispered. 

"You too."


	12. Chapter 12--A Battle to End A War

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, welcome to war.
> 
> I still have no idea what I'm doing  
> I am open to suggestions

Cammie watched the jet leaving from her window. She instantly felt lonely, since she was the only one left in the Compound.

No one wanted to leave her here, but they had to. Even Dr. Banner had to leave. But he was the most worried, knowing what could happen while they were gone. He thought it was a trap to draw them away and to get Cammie killed.

But Cammie reassured him, telling him that it wasn't likely. But she knew it could happen.

A hour after they left, Cammie had gone down to the kitchen to eat lunch. Most people would be excited to have the Avengers Compound to themselves for a whole week, but she was lonely. She didn't want to be alone. She hadn't been alone for awhile.

She ate lunch outside, sitting under the trees. It was cold in New York, but she wasn't wearing a jacket. She was perfectly fine, using bits of magic to keep her warm. She began hearing faint voices in her head, but she never listened.

It was going to be a  _long week_.

\--

Three days later, disaster struck.

She was meditating that morning, talking to Captain America in her head. She still wasn't sure if he was real or not.

He was telling her a story of Tony when he stopped talking.

 _Something's happening._ He said, and instantly Cammie stood up.

She waved her hand, and dressed herself in her Silent Strike suit. The inside of her full black mask turned invisible to her as she teleported to the rooftops of New York.

Cammie looked around and tried to focus as she felt the presence of Mortem. Then, she ran over to were he was.

His eyes flashed over to her. "Perfect." He smirked, holding his fist to the sky. "Let this war begin."

\--

On Asgard, Loki watched the starry sky.

He was supposed to be in charge of Asgard while Thor was away, visiting the Avengers. Barely getting above the ranks of villain after saving the Avengers many times from Thanos, he was still hated by many. But he didn't mind. He was used to it.

Suddenly, a ray of light filled the sky, heading straight to Midgard. It caught Loki's attention. He figured that was the reason Thor was there, to help protect Midgard.

But he began to think otherwise as Heimdall's messenger ran to Loki. "Prince Loki Odinson," He began. "Heimdall has requested you to come to the Bifrost. You are needed to protect Midgard."

"My brother is already there. He will take care of it." 

"Heimdall has seen that King Thor will not be there. They need  _you_."

Loki sighed.  _Stupid, weak Midgardians._ "Fine. Take me there."

\--

Mortem watched as the young girl in front of him trembled at the portal forming in the sky. Almost identical to the one that brought the Chitauri to Earth years ago, this one brought another alien race, the Mura. The race that him and the girl were from.

"Are your superhero friends going to save you, Cammie?" He yelled as she summoned a sword. "They aren't here! They're too far away to hear your cries." He pulled his own sword out and pointed it at her. "They're too far away to notice you until it's to late."

"You're mistaken." She cried out, her voice changed from her mask until it was almost a man's voice. "They'll come. And they'll destroy your little minions."

Mortem smirked. "So you'll let half of your own race die out because they're trying to clean up a mess?"

"They're not my race!" She screamed. "I am a human!"

"Foolish child." Mortem sighed, and they ran at each other, swords shinning. Then, suddenly, he was swept off his feet and into a nearby wall.

A man in a green, gold, and black Asgardian outfit walked closer. 

"Loki Odinson!" Mortem stood up, leaning on his sword. "You appear to be mistaken. It the girl that is in our way."

Loki sighed. "No, I'm helping the Midgardian. I still owe them a debt." As he finished, hordes of Mura started to land around them. The cloaked Midgardian held their sword in a defense position at Mortem.

"My apologies, Sir Loki." They said, not glancing at the god. "But you have to take the Mura. Only I can take on Mortem."

"Whatever you say, Midgardian." Loki smiled at the figure. 

The battle began.

\--

Tony laid on his bed in the hotel. They had been there for three days and there was still no sign of what they were after. Tony didn't even  _know_ what they were after.

Peter was restless. It hurt to watch him walk around, mentally lost. He was constantly worried for his friend. 

"Kid, why don't you turn on the TV? See what's on?" Tony asked him, hoping it would get him to stop moving around.

"'K, Tony." Peter fell onto the couch and grabbed a remote. He turned on the TV and didn't bother to change the channel. It was on the news.

"Not the news. Change it to something else." Tony complained.

"Shut up." Peter muttered, staring at the TV with horror. Tony decided to walk over to see what was going on. He froze when he saw the screen.

New York was under attack. From the looks of it, the enemy couldn't be beat by the average cops. They needed the Avengers, who weren't there.

Tony cursed and pulled out his phone to send a text to everyone. They needed to get to New York. Screw the project, the city was under attack by another strange race.

_It seems like there are only two fighters on our side. The hooded black figure, who may be linked somehow to these attacks, and...What? It seems that the other is Loki? That's impossible. He's not on our side! Where are the Avengers?_

The news blared in the background. Peter had begun clenching his hair, nearly pulling it out. He had shaking heavily. Tony had to take the kid away from the TV and onto one of the beds.

"Look, kid, keep it together." He said, trying to calm the kid. "Cammie needs your help. You can't have a panic attack. You have to help her."

"But....what if..." Tears rolled down Peter's face. Tony held onto his shoulders.

"She can fight them for long enough to hide. But you need to get her away. Can I trust you with that?" Tony knew that he should be on front lines, but he also knew that Peter was going to go after Cammie first thing, so he kept was going to let him.

Peter took a few deep breathes. "Okay...I fine." He stood up, clenching his hands together. "We need to go. Now."

"I know. Everyone's already meeting up in the park nearby. Let's go."

Together, both father and son ran out of the hotel and to the park where the rest of the Avengers waited.

"Okay, what's the problem?" Strange asked, already in his wizard getup. He was ready to make a portal.

"New York. It's under attack again." Tony sighed, already getting into his suit.

Bruce and Bucky looked at each other in horror. They knew something. As Strange and Wong put up portals, Tony walked over to them. "Okay, what's the deal? You two know something."

They looked over at Tony. "We have an idea." Bruce told him.

"And if it's true," Bucky added. "Then we're getting into something bad."

"Great." Tony complained and walked into one of the portals.

\--

Cammie didn't want to fight. But she knew she couldn't rest. So that's why she didn't even question Loki's appearance. He was there to help her. That was that.

She and Mortem launched into a deadly sword fight, metal clashing against metal rapidly. They both tried to use their magic to the advantages, but it didn't work. The other would just block it with another spell. 

She got a lucky strike and nocked Mortem back, but he landed on his feet. But then he looked over and cursed loudly. Cammie followed his stare and grinned widely under her mask.

The Avengers were here.

Those who could fly quickly flew away, launching themselves towards the other hordes of Mura. Peter quickly swung off in another direction, probably to help get the civilians out of the way. The others stayed on the rooftop, shooting or using whatever they had to quickly put an end to the Mura.

"NO!" Mortem shouted, starting to rush at the other Avengers. Cammie began to pull him back, but Bucky helped and shot him rapidly with his guns. Of course, Mortem blocked them all, but it distracted him so Cammie could get him back to fighting her. With a simple nod to thank Bucky, she engaged into the sword fight once more.

"How are they here! How did you get them here!" Mortem hissed, swinging his sword faster.

"I didn't bring them here." She pretended to be innocent as she blocked his strokes. "They came by themselves."

Suddenly, Mortem held out his left hand and teleported both him and Cammie away from the others.

\--

When they walked through the portal, Peter told Tony, "Okay, I'll be back."

"Where's he going?" Bruce asked, still in his human form.

"Finding his girlfriend." Tony smirked and shot one of the aliens.

Bruce sighed. "Look, Cammie's safe. She knows what's going on, and we already made preparations for her. Call Peter back."

"Okay, why did you tell this plan to her and Bucky, but to no one else?"

"Cammie was the one to make the idea from some of the recordings she'd seen. She came and told me, and Bucky overheard us talking about it." Bruce explained. "We weren't sure if it was true, and she didn't want everyone to worry anymore. I don't think she thought it would happen."

Tony sighed and brought up his call link with his kid. "Pete, come back to the fight. Cam's fine."

Peter was going to complain, but thought better of it. "If she isn't, I'm blaming you."

"Blame Bruce."

Tony looked back at the rooftop that they'd came on. He saw Loki fighting on the Avengers side. Tony knew that Loki wasn't fully bad, but it still worried him that the god would betray them again.

 _Well, he's overpowered if he does._ Tony thought as he saw Thor's lighting and Hulk jump into the streets. 

\--

Mortem had brought the fight to an empty part of New York, where neither the Mura or the Avengers were at. Cammie knew that this fight would be the last. Either Cammie or Mortem could win. No more ties. No more draws.

The fight began to get faster. Quick footsteps and swings, twirls and ducks. It would hurt someone's eyes if they tried to watch the fight. 

Cammie began to get tired. It made her block some half a second to late. It struck his mask and dented it, almost hitting her eye. Cammie flew back and ripped it off her face, reveling her face.

Instantly, Mortem bolted and trapped Cammie against a wall. He held his sword at her throat.

"This is the end of the line for you." He growled with a evil smile.

Cammie's hand went flat against the wall. She felt inside of herself, looking for the source of the voices.

_Cammie, is it time?_

"Yes." She whispered.

_Perfect. I just found someone to help._

"I haven't played my last card." Cammie said to Mortem. "This has only just begun."

Cammie's hand flew out, and a rose aura emanated out of it. From it, two men appeared. The one and only Captain America and an unfamiliar man with light blonde hair and a light blue outfit.

The men began attacking Mortem, making him drop his sword and try to block the two men. Cammie felt her energy spike, knowing the effects of the dead.

"You two, go help the Avengers." She told the two men. "This man is mine."

With a nod, both men disappeared. 

\--

Bucky was almost having fun shooting the aliens. They were fast, but he was faster. But he was worried about what they meant, and what they were doing to the others.

He was distracted by two of the aliens that he didn't see one of the others throw a staff at him until it was to late.

He got ready to feel it pierce into when it was hit with something metal. The same thing hit the two aliens he was attacking. When it landed, Bucky quickly knew what it was. He turned around.

"Steve?" Bucky gasped out, running towards his life-long friend. He pulled the man into his arms, remembering the face of the man when he last saw him, not ten minutes after Bucky had been revived, telling everyone to run from Thanos. He hadn't made it. But he was there.

"Bucky!" Steve said as he accepted the hug from his friend. 

Remembering that they were in a battle, they separated and Steve went to grab his shield. "How are you alive?" Bucky asked.

"Your friend, Cammie." Steve smiled. "She's a nice girl."

Bucky, surprised, shot another alien. " _Cammie_? She can do that?"

"I guess so."

Bucky smiled. "Well, then she's getting her own chapter in history."

Steve smiled back. "You guys weren't going to make her one anyways?"

\--

Pietro ended up about twenty feet from his twin sister. He watched her for a second, lifting the aliens into the air and throwing them away. He ran over there and patted her back.

"Good job, Wanda." He teased. "You almost got them all."

"Pietro!" She nearly screamed, her eyes filling with happiness. She pulled him into a hug, still fending off the aliens.

"Hey, reunions later." Clint told them, walking over. Then he stared daggers at Pietro. "We're going to talk. You don't just come back to life after I saw you die."

Pietro smiled. "Well, you should have saw that coming."

\--

In the sword fight, Cammie quickly got the upper hand. Death was an adrenaline-spiker to her, but it was risky. She knew very well that she was probably going to die from using her powers so much. But she still had to continue. 

She feinted a strike and stabbed Mortem in the heart. He fell over and Cammie landed on top of him, panting. The sword impaled his chest, hitting the concrete beneath them. Mortem's eyes widened, and Cammie saw the scared eyes of a child for a split second. But she couldn't stop.

"Welcome to your end, Mortem. Welcome to your death." She hissed. "May the Gods praise your ending." Then, her sword filled with white flames, filling the poor man's body with the hottest flames.

In spite it all, Mortem screamed as his body burnt.

\--

Tony had just saved a family from a group of aliens when a piercing scream filled the air. He could hear it through his suit.

All of the aliens stopped, and began to be lit with a white fire. They all burnt, until all that was left was some scared and surprised Avengers, and some trembling New Yorkers.

"What happened?" Tony asked.

"I don't know...." Natasha replied, as there was cursing from someone else.

"That idiot...." Bucky whispered, and began to run off towards were the scream came from. Quickly behind him was a man that Tony instantly recognized. 

His helmet retracted. "Steve?" He asked as he flew closer. Steve stopped and faced him.

"Not now, Tony. We have to find someone." Steve told him, and turned to run.

\--

Peter would have been astonished as the aliens burnt away if the scream hadn't scared him. 

"Cammie!" He yelled, somehow knowing that she was close. He swung off to were the scream originated. 

He ended up in an empty parking lot, and there was a mound of white flames. They grew bigger, but then Peter saw a black cloak in the mix. The person turned around, and in the flames was the familiar face.

"Cammie..." He breathed out, scared to see her on fire. But he was powerless to it.

The flames died down, and he could see that she was strangely unharmed. But there was a pile of ashes behind her. Ignoring the ashes, Peter quickly ran over to her.

"Peter." She began to cry, trying to walk. But she fell. As she fell, Peter caught her, surprised to feel that her skin was as cool as normal. 

He got a good look at her clothes. Black robes. He gasped, and pulled the girl into a hug as she wept.

"I...I killed...." She sobbed, clutching onto Peter's suit.

"I don't care, Cam." He whispered. "I'll never care. You saved us."

Peter saw the rest of the Avengers run into the parking lot. Peter, knowing that Cammie wouldn't walk, picked her up and carried her over to them. He didn't even take in the new additions. 

Dr. Banner, back into his human form, ran over to them. Cammie had gone unconscious, tears still on her face. Her clothes had returned to how she must have been before, a simple t-shirt, jacket around her waist, and pants.

"We need to get her to Med Bay." Dr. Banner told Peter. "I don't know if she's hurt, and I don't think she's waking up anytime soon."

"Why?" Peter asked, desperate.

"She's done a lot." Dr. Banner turned to Tony. "Tony! I need you to get Cammie and I to Med Bay, now!"

"I'm not carrying you both." Tony yelled back.

Then, a soft mumble came from Cammie. "I'm...fine..."

Banner turned back to her. "Okay, but we still need to get you to Med Bay. Just, sleep, okay? Sleep until you absolutely don't have to."

"Okay..." She whispered again, and fell back under.

"The Compound's not far." Bucky said, walking over. "And there's a bus over there." He pointed to a undamaged bus. "We'll all get in there and drive back."

"Okay then, let's go!" Peter told him. The two men nodded and ran off to the bus. Dr. Banner waved everyone else over.

They all boarded the bus, and with Nat as driver, they drove off.

\--

Now that the fight was over, Steve was able to take a full breath of the New York air. After two years of being alone in death, he was happy to be alive again. He owed it all on that teen girl. Cammie.

He owed that girl big time.

He sat down next to Bucky, who was staring at him.

"I still can't believe this. You're alive." Bucky whispered to him.

"Well, I never thought that I would be back." Steve sighed. "I wasn't even expecting to come back to live. I was going to help Cammie defeat Mortem, no matter what, but I would never ask her to bring me back. It would be too much for her, and she still brought two back to life."

Bucky looked at the blonde guy who was talking to Wanda and Clint. "Who is that guy?"

"Pietro Maximoff. Wanda's twin brother. He got shot a bunch to save Clint and a kid. I found him in the same world I was in. So I brought him along, to help us. But Cammie brought him back too."

Bucky looked over at the girl. "God, when I heard that the girl was a superhero, I thought she would be just a swordfighter, that could heal and teleport. But, I was so wrong. She's her own god."

"She'll be an Avenger if she wants."

"Well, she's going to date Peter, then she's going to have to stay."

Steve smiled. "I can't wait."


	13. Chapter 13--Cries of a Hurt Child

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Panic Attacks and tears
> 
> Also, some looks into the future

Two days.

It was over two days since Cammie was awake. Since Cammie had smiled.

She didn't seem alive. She wasn't Cammie. She seemed to be in a coma. Even as Dr. Banner said that she was just sleeping, Peter couldn't help but thing that she was in a coma. That she was gone.

Peter had spent those long two days in his room, just laying on his bed. He wanted to visit her. He wanted to see her calming face. But not when she just laid there. He wanted to see her smile. He wanted to hold her in his arms and have her hold him back.

He couldn't get Cammie's face in the white flames out of his head. Her eyes had looked scared. She  _had_ been scared. By the looks of it, she had just killed a man. The....knife man? The one that had almost killed him? They seemed like enemies. Knife man hated Silent Strike.

Cammie was Silent Strike. He still had to come to terms with it. The pile of ashes behind her had to be him. Peter didn't know exactly what had happened, but he knew that Cammie wouldn't speak about it. 

Peter closed his eyes. He resisted the urge to go to Med Bay. He would regret it. 

The day slipped by as Peter laid there.

\--

Voices.

Angry voices. Sad voices. Nervous voices. 

 _Cammie, come on._ A different voice spoke. It was louder.  _I need you Cammie. We need you._

With that, Cammie's eyes bolted open.

It was pitch black. So black it hurt Cammie's eyes. Regret filled her body. She had killed someone.

She sat up and tried to get out of the bed, but there was things in her left arm. Carefully, she pulled them out. It was stupid, but she needed to breathe. 

Once they were out, Cammie pulled herself onto her feet. Her legs were weak, but she could stay up. 

She hurried to the door, and bolted to the exit.

When she got outside, the cold October air surrounded her. She was barefoot and in the clothes that she had worn when she had left to stop Mortem. Her tangled hair flew behind her as she ran. Somehow, she stopped herself by grabbing onto a tree. But she let go and toppled onto the ground. Rolling onto her back, she took a deep breath and began to sob quietly.

\--

"Mr. Parker, Cammie is awake." Friday said in the middle of the night. Peter instantly ran out his door.

"Where is she?" Peter asked, beginning to jog down to the Med Bay.

"She appears to be running outside. She is having a panic attack."

Peter cursed and ran to the exit, watching as Cammie fell and laid on the ground. Peter ran over, hearing her sobs as he got closer. 

When he got there, Cammie didn't look at him. She just kept crying. It hurt Peter, but he pulled her into a hug. His heart broke as she pushed away, and she curled up into a ball. Peter carefully grabbed her hand and held it gently. She kept crying.

"It's okay, Cammie. It's okay." Peter whispered to her. Her eyes met his.

"Peter...I killed him." She said, tears rolling down her face. "I killed Mortem. I killed all of them."

"That doesn't matter, Cam." He wiped a tear from her face. "You saved so many people."

Her face fell into her legs as her breath quickened. The panic attack. Peter grabbed her other hand and gently squeezed. "Cam, breathe. Please. Breathe. Breathe. Don't panic. Everything's okay."

Her breathing slowed a bit, and she leaned against the tree. Peter slowly crawled over and pulled her face onto his chest. His shirt quickly became wet. He glanced over at the exit, seeing Dr. Banner and Tony standing in the door.

"Come on, Cam." Peter tucked his arms under her neck and legs and lifted her up. "Dr. Banner needs to check on you. He needs to make sure you're okay. Okay?"

"I can walk." She pushed herself out of his arms and wobbled as she stood. Together, they walked towards the exit. She kept sniffling and wiping her eyes. Peter wanted to pull her into a hug, but he wouldn't while in clear view of Tony and Dr. Banner.

"Let's go, Cammie." Dr. Banner said, watching worriedly as she stumbled inside. Peter watched, not wanting to interfere with whatever Dr. Banner had to do.

Tony patted his shoulder. "Kid, you're doing your best. I know you are. Just give her time."

"I feel terrible." Peter admitted. "I've been waiting ever since she beat Mortem for her to wake up and smile, to have things go back to normal. I should've known that she would be upset."

"How would you feel, if you finally, actually killed someone?" Tony looked at him seriously. "If to fully have someone's death on your hands?"

Peter looked at the ground. "I would be broken, too."

Tony smiled. "You're too good to be a superhero. You and Cam both. Me? I don't feel the pain of killing someone anymore. As long as they are attacking me, then I can kill them without being guilty. But you saved the Vulture even after he tried to kill you. You could have left him for dead, like he would have done to you. But no, you carried him out of the flames. You saved his life."

"Cam didn't have a choice. If she kept him alive, then he would have killed us all. She did that to save us. She made one of the hardest sacrifices a hero has to make. We don't kill, we save."

A tear fell onto the floor. Peter began to walk towards the Med Bay. Tony walked by his side, his arm wrapped around Peter's shoulder. Tony wasn't a good dad usually, but at times like these he would make up for it.

When they got to Cammie's room, they stood outside and watched through the windows. Bruce was checking her vitals, doing a quick check-up. Tony yawned. He had to make sure that Cammie was okay, and that Peter didn't freak out. 

Huh. Making sure that his kid and his kid's girlfriend were okay. Good parenting, Tony.

After her check-up, Cammie sat up in her bed, wiping her face constantly. Peter had gone in to sit with her, and Bruce sat with Tony outside of it. 

They all were silent. Soon, Cammie leaned her head onto Peter's shoulder, and both of their eye's closed.

"God, those kids make a cute couple." Tony whispered to Bruce.

"We all know that, Tony." Bruce stood up with a yawn. "I'm going back to bed. You might want to do the same. Tell those two that they should go to bed also. Peter knows were Cammie's room is."

"Okay." Tony stood up also and walked to the door. He gently opened the door.

Peter and Cammie looked over at him. The two were almost asleep.

"Hey, Bruce and I are going to bed. I think that you two should do the same. Bruce said it's fine if Cammie goes back to her room."

"'kay." Peter stood up, and waited for Cammie to do the same. When she did, Peter grabbed her hand and they walked out. Tony smiled at the two and walked to his own room.

\--

Peter took Cammie straight to her room. When they got in there, she sat on her bed, still crying. Peter lifted her up and laid her down, covering her with a blanket. She looked up at him sadly. 

For some strange reason, Peter laid down next to her. She didn't judge, just curled up and closed her eyes. Peter slung his arm over her and fell asleep.

It was a strangely peaceful night.

\--

The man watched over the footage again.

 _That girl_...He thought.  _That girl..._

_She's going to help me end the Avengers._


	14. Chapter 14

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, I have to tell you guys something.  
> This fanfic isn't doing so well. I mean, it's great for my first, but not great.  
> But I don't care. I am finishing this. I will make the people in the future that read this like it.

Cammie woke up with her face pushed into something. It wasn't a pillow.

She moved her head back and opened her eyes. Then, she gasped.

She was sleeping with Peter.

No one would ever let them forget this.

Knowing she was already screwed and since she was warm, she rested her head against his chest. Her face was dry from all of the tears she'd cried. She couldn't cry any more, so she just closer her eyes and focused on her and Peter's breathing.

After a few minutes, Peter's arm moved off of her. She looked up and saw Peter's eyes open. He looked nervous. Cammie quickly scooted away and fell off the bed.

"God, Cam! Are you okay?" Peter crawled over and looked at her, worried. Cammie gave him a nervous smile and pushed herself up.

"I'm fine." She said, her voice cracking. "I'm going to take a shower. You...you should go to your room....in case Tony decides to check on you."

Peter stood up, knowing that Tony already knew and had probably taken a picture of it and was getting it framed. "Right....Come down to the kitchen when you're done."

Cammie heard Peter slowly leave and she pulled out a new pair of clothes. Then she walked to the shower to wash away her tears and stress, and to get back into her normal schedule so she could just forget this.

\--

Tony sat in the common room with a full cup of coffee. He was still stressed over the night before. But Cammie was awake and healthy, and Peter knew how to take care her. Peter would help her get through this.

After Tony made fun of them for sleeping together.

He watched Peter walk down into common room with a granola bar. Tony smiled at the kid.

"You're going to need more than that, kid." He told him, taking a sip of coffee. 

"I'm fine." Peter muttered, taking a bite.

Tony couldn't let him keep his confidence any longer. "I know you two slept together."

Peter's eyes widened. "Tell anyone, and you're dead."

"I know that's a false threat. And you know that I'm doing it anyways."

Another person walked into the room. Steve, still getting used to being back, stared at the father and son talking to each other. "Uhhh…you guys want pancakes?" He asked cautiously.

Peter webbed Tony's mouth shut. "Sure. That sounds great." 

Steve didn't even want to ask. "Is Cammie up?"

"She's taking a shower." Peter told him. 

Tony tried to say something, but it was mumbled. He gestured wildly.

"Tony, I don't care." Steve said. "Calm down."

Steve left the common room.

\--

Cammie's shower was super quick. It was all that she needed. She put on the clean clothes and left her old ones in the bathroom, not caring at the time. Then she walked down to the kitchen, braiding her hair on the way. As she entered the kitchen, she pulled her bracelet on.

"Good Morning, Cammie." Steve Rodgers said, and Cammie stopped.

He was dressed in normal clothes and was holding a bag of flour. Next to him was sugar, milk, and other ingredients. She knew what he was making.

"You can make pancakes?" Cammie asked, surprised.

"I can do a lot that surprises people. Do you want to help?" He asked.

"Of course I do. I love baking." Cammie pocketed her bracelet and walked over. "Are you doing one big batch, or a bunch of small ones?"

"A bunch of small ones in different flavors. What flavors do you like?"

Cammie thought for a second. "Normal, chocolate chip, blueberry, cinnamon and brown sugar, oatmeal, and strawberry."

"That's a lot."

"Mom made me and my siblings pancakes all the time." Cammie smiled at the memory. "She made us the best breakfasts for our birthday."

"Well, can you make the blueberry, oatmeal, and cinnamon and brown sugar? I'll make the others."

"Sure."

They worked in silence as the pancake batter was being made. Cammie had to climb onto the counters many times to get ingredients.

After awhile, Cammie asked, "How do you remember how to cook?"

Steve thought for a minute. "I guess...it's something you just don't forget. You know things like that?"

"Something that you do so often that you can do on instinct? Ya, I know those." Cammie measured a perfect spoonful of brown sugar. "I have a lot of those."

"Don't we all?" He sighed.

They both started to cook their pancakes on the stove. Cammie had mastered the perfect temperature and way to cook pancakes quickly and amazing. Her pile of pancakes grew at a rapid rate.

"How?" Steve asked during his third pancake. She was already on her eight. "That is true magic."

Cammie laughed. "Actually, it's pure talent." She put another in her stack. "Me and my older brother loved crepe cakes, so my mom learned how to make them quickly. She did the same thing with pancakes."

"You mom seems like a great person." Steve stated.

Cammie put on a small, dreamy smile. "Both of my parents were. Mom was an excellent baker and chef, and Dad was an excellent fighter. They fought sometimes, but it never got bad. We were the perfect little family."

Steve was quiet. He clearly caught on to how she said 'were'. 

As Cammie moved onto another pancake batter, a couple people entered the kitchen. "Oh Steve, I've missed your pancakes." Tony said, grabbing a plate and the syrup. "What kinds have you two lovely people made?"

"None for you, Tony." Steve told him. "You're too much of a jerk."

"What? No I'm not." Tony faked innocence, trying to reach the pancakes. Cammie held his arm back.

"You heard him." She said, pushing the brown sugar pancakes over to Peter and the others entering the room. "That's brown sugar. There's still more coming."

"Nice. Thanks, Cam." Peter pulled a few onto his plate and poured syrup on them. 

Cammie quickly finished making the rest of her pancakes before she finally got hers. She stacked a brown sugar, blueberry, oatmeal, and chocolate chip on top of each other and drowned them in syrup. Then she quickly left to go join the others in the Common room.

She sat next at the end of an empty couch. There was a lot of couches and chairs in the room. She guessed it was because there was a lot of Avengers now.

She ate her pancakes and listened to conversations around her. Peter and Tony were arguing, which was normal. Wanda and Pietro sat off by themselves, talking. So did Natasha and Clint. Strange and Dr. Banner were reading. Sam and Bucky were fighting, also normal. Cammie slid on her bracelet and summoned a book.  _Cinder_ by Marissa Meyer. She'd read it many times, but it was a good book. 

Realizing that the noise around her was distracting, she summoned her phone and headphones and turned on her YouTube music playlist. Somehow, that was less distracting.

When she finished eating, she bookmarked her page and sent her book back to her room. Sliding her phone into her pocket, she took her dishes to the sink and walked outside, dressing into a heavy jacket since it was colder outside.

She found her normal spot in the trees and began to hum to her music. She was completely in her head. Her music blasted into her ears.

Then, while her eyes were closed, she felt something wet hit her face. Opening her eyes, she saw that it was starting to rain. She stood up, realizing that she'd been outside for a long time. Shielding her phone from the rain and putting on her hood, she walked to the exit to get inside.

When she shut the door, she took her shoes up to her room before she started walking up herself. Cursing as her socks hit the wet floor where she shoes had been, she tied her jacket around her waist and began walking up to her room. 

She was still injured a bit from her fight with Mortem, so she didn't really want to train. Well, maybe a bit, but mostly she wanted to walk around and listen to music. To stay inside her head, to get over the fight.

She stopped humming her music, deciding to lip sync it since she was inside. Distracted, she nearly ran into the wall a few times. When she finally got into her room, she grabbed her notebook and a pencil.

 _A poem_ , she thought. Poems helped her get through the depressing year of school after her parents died. Poems made her feel better, like taking a piece of the pain she felt and putting it onto a piece of paper. She was getting pretty good at writing them.

She set her jacket in her closet and sat down on her bed, still syncing to her music. Her poem came to her quickly, and soon, too soon, she was finished with it. After, she decided to look at her old poems.

One stood out to her. She read it.

_Locked inside the prison of my mind,_

_Unable to escape._

_Reaching for the help that always fades away._

_My demons are inside,_

_No one can save me._

_Tired of fighting,_

_Failing, falling, eating the growing darkness,_

_I scream to be set free._

_…_

_But no one comes to save me._

_Because they can't understand,_

_They can't hear,_

_the desperation, the hurt,_

_Of my darkening mind._

_That only goes darker._

_Only loses light._

The poem was one of the first ones Cammie had ever written. Back when she had watched the world around her turn to dust. Back when the depression she had first set in. She had seen her friends and family fade away. She started to, herself. 

Remembering the feeling if her body turning to dust, she shivered. She had her whole left side of her body fade away, but she was ready for it. Ready to die. But when it came back, she was even more scared. It meant that she had survived turning to dust.

It meant that she was different.

Her room had begun to get stuffy. She needed to get back outside. It was still raining, but it would be better. She stood up as there was a knock on the door.

"Cam? Can I come in?" Peter asked.

"Yes." She replied, turning off her phone and setting it on her dresser. 

"I was wondering if you wanted to do something?" He said, sitting on her bed. It was still very awkward. 

"Do you want to go on a walk? I can't stand being in here." Cammie suggested.

"It's raining."

"It's better than being in here."

Peter sighed. "Okay, we can do that."

"You don't have to come. I'm fine walking by myself."

"You're still hurt from your fight with Mortem." He pointed to her ankle, which had been broken.

"I healed it."

"Well, just in case anything happens."

"I can defend myself."

"Just let me come, please." Peter begged.

"If you want to." Cammie grabbed an umbrella and made it disappear. "Come on!" She smiled and pulled him off of her bed. "We're sneaking out."

"But...I'm supposed to tell Tony when I leave...."

"What? It's not like we're going to go very far. It'll be short. Anyway, if anyone needs you, Friday will tell them that we went for a walk." 

Peter sighed and opened the window. "So, how are you going to get down?"

Cammie slid on her bracelet. "Easy. I'll copy you." She climbed out the window and stuck to the slick walls. Peter followed and nearly fell.

"Go slowly, okay?" He told her as she began moving down the wall. She got down and waited at the bottom for him. When he landed, Cammie handed him an umbrella and pushed her own up. Then, they began to walk on the road that led to the city.

"How has no one found were this place is? There is clearly a road." Cammie asked, taking a big step over a puddle. 

"What kind of people would drive up a random road?"

"People that wanted to find the Avengers."

They walked quickly, and soon got to the end of the road, were it met the highway. It was mostly empty. And it gave a great view of New York. 

"It's so pretty." Cammie whispered. "It almost looks inviting from a distance."

"You don't like New York?" 

"I'm a small town person. New York was the first real city I've ever been to." She began to look around. Suddenly, she saw a rustle in the bushes. She walked over.

"Where're you going?" Peter asked, grabbing the back of her jacket.

"Shh! I saw something." Cammie lifted her left hand, which had her bracelet. Then something crashed into her, throwing her onto the ground. Her bracelet flew off and her small body was being crushed.

"Get off of me!" She screamed, trying to move. Then, a gun was pointed at her temple. She froze.

"Hey! Who are you?" Peter yelled, standing in a defense position. The man lifted Cammie up and kept the gun on her head. Peter took a step back.

"Take a step closer, and I'll shoot." The man threatened, shoving the point of the gun into Cammie's skull.

"Peter, go." She whispered. "Tell Tony."

Peter hesitated. "Go!" She yelled, being pulled off of the ground. She was injected with something.

The last thing she saw was her friend's terrified eyes, and then watching him run.

_I'm sorry, Peter._

 


	15. Chapter 15--There are many types of Torcher

Peter had sprinted back to the Compound, Cammie's face flashing in his brain. Her smile. Then her face in the white flames. Then held at gunpoint. Over and over and over.

When he shoved open the door, Tony and Bruce were walking by. They stopped and quickly met him.

"Peter? What happened?" Bruce asked, grabbing his shoulders. Peter fell to the ground, his face filled with fear.

He muttered something that the other two couldn't hear. "Peter, please, tell us what happened." Tony said in his most calming voice.

"Cam....He got Cam..." He whispered. "Oh God...."

Tony cursed. "That freaking kid. Who has Cam, Peter?"

"I...don't know. We were walking....and she heard something....and then...." He looked up at Tony, his eyes young and scared.

"We'll find her, kid." Tony reassured the kid. "Bruce, I'm going to go check out were they were. You watch for any signs of her. And you might as well tell everyone." He turned back to Peter. "Where were you guys walking?"

"We went to the end of the road..." Peter stood up and pointed.

"Great. Stay here." Tony ran out of the building.

\--

Cammie slowly woke up. The first thing she noticed is that she was sitting up. _Was I sleepwalking?_

Then the events slowly came back to her, and her eyes flew open.

She was strapped to a chair, her wrists strapped to a small table. She could feel dried blood on her face. But she didn't really feel pain. She only felt hopelessness. She didn't have her bracelet.

A man walked out from the shadows. "Is the little princess finally awake?" He asked in a soothing voice. It creeped her out. "You've been asleep for awhile. Three hours, I believe. Are you hungry? Thirsty?"

"A little bit." Cammie replied, her voice loud and strong. She noticed he was filming the conversation. "What are you doing, filming a video to send to the Avengers? A hostage video, to show them that you have me? To show them that you're going to break me?"

He slammed the camera on the table and gave her a hard slap. "Ow...that hurt." She said sarcastically. He slapped her again, harder. She only stared at the camera.

"So, I'm guessing you need something?" Cammie faked nonchalance. "Well, ask away."

He walked over and lifted her head forcedly by her hair. "Kid, don't play games with me. I'm in charge, got it?" He threw her face at the table. She lifted it back up.

"Point taken." That earned her another slap. It didn't really hurt her. But she knew worse was going to happen.

"Well, I am going to show this to your little Avenger friends. Got anything to tell them, while you still can?" The man growled.

Cammie smirked up at him. "First of all, they're not little. They've saved your life more than once, you know. And they're all probably stronger than you. And bigger." Her head was shoved into the table. She still got up, but her head began to throb.

"I know you guys want be to stop being sarcastic, so I don't get hurt anymore." She blocked the nest slap. "But I'm trying to buy you guys time." She couldn't block the next one. "I'll hold out, just find where this guy is. Trust me, this idiot ain't strong enough to break me." Her face was pushed towards the table again, but she resisted the force. "But I do ask that you hurry just a little bit. Thank you! Love you all."

She raised her hand in a little wave as the man shut off the camera and shoved her face into the table. Then she was injected with something, probably the same drug as before, and was knocked out.

\--

All Tony had found was Cammie's bracelet, and it made his heart shatter. Without it, she wouldn't stand a chance to much.

Even though he was soaking wet, he went straight to where Bruce was when he got back inside. He simply showed him the bracelet and Bruce cursed loudly.

"I was kind of hoping you'd find her." He sighed. "I have everyone else here on alert. Bucky and Steve are looking around since I don't trust them with computers, and everyone else is searching." He watched the bracelet. "You really found nothing, huh?"

Tony collapsed onto a chair. "Oh God, that kid....she's done so much. Being a secret hero, saving the world nearly by herself....I mean, she only just got better. Why does she have to suffer even more?"

"I don't know, Tony. I don't know." Bruce muttered. "Why don't you go check on Peter? He's freaking out right now. I offered to let him stay, but he just ignored me and went to his room. I think he needs you."

"Right. I'm a terrible parent." He sighed.

"You're doing great, Tony. He loves you."

Tony walked up to his kid's room. When he opened the door, he wasn't surprised to find that the lights were off and the window was shut. In the slight light in the room, he saw a pile of blankets on the bed. Tony slowly walked over and sat down next to Peter.

"It's okay, Peter. We'll find her. I promise." He soothingly took the kid. Peter wasn't crying, so Tony slowly removed the blankets. 

He could tell that Peter was still in shock. His eyes were wide, and his lips quivered slightly. "She can't be gone." He whispered. "I only just got her back."

"I know, kid. We all just did." He pulled the kid into a hug. "And now we're going to get her back again, and make sure she never leaves."

"It's my fault." Peter said. "I let her walk down so far away. I should have made her stay close to here. I should have made her stay inside."

"None of this is your fault. None."

After a while, Peter pushed away from Tony. "I want to be alone for a bit."

"Okay. I'll check on you later." Tony patted the kid's head. "Just make sure you get something to eat."

Peter pulled the blankets back over his head as Tony left the room.

\--

Everyone but Peter spent the next few hours trying to find out what happened to Cammie. Peter wasn't out of his shock-phase yet, so he wasn't any help.

Tony was so agitated that his watch beeping made him jump. Bruce, who was next to him, looked over.

Looking at the notification, Tony cursed. "It says it's a video...." He looked at Bruce, stunned. "..Of our little princess."

"Friday, call everyone here besides Peter. They all have to see this." Bruce rested his head in his hands. "I can't watch it. I'm going outside."

Bruce stood up and hurried out the door as Pietro walked in. Slowly, everyone filled the room.

Tony enlarged the screen and pressed play.

 _"Is the little princess finally awake?  You've been asleep for awhile. Three hours, I believe. Are you hungry? Thirsty?"_ His voice was sickly soothing. It made a shiver run down Tony's back.

Then, as the cocky girl was, her reply got her a slap. She was strangely calm, like she had accepted what was happening. That is what hurt the most. 

After a few more cocky responses, a few more slaps, and a shove into the table, she showed her full face. Her nose was bleeding, and there was already bruises. But she still looked strong.  _"I know you guys want be to stop being sarcastic, so I don't get hurt anymore."_ She moved her head to block a slap. _" But I'm trying to buy you guys time." _The next slap made the room shiver. _" I'll hold out, just find where this guy is. Trust me, this idiot ain't strong enough to break me."_ The man tried to smash her head again, but she somehow held her head up, staring at the camera.  _"But I do ask that you hurry just a little bit. Thank you! Love you all."_ She gave the camera a little wave as the screen went black.

The room was silent. Everyone was speechless. That idiot kid was tough. No mistake about it. But if they couldn't find her soon...

"Friday, bring Bruce back in here." Steve, a few steps ahead, told the AI. "Everyone, up your searches. We have to find Cammie."

Instantly, everyone separated.

\--

Peter's dreams were weird.

At first, it was just darkness.

Then, it was a strange picture. A little girl with brown pigtails was walking down a street by herself, balancing on the sidewalk edge. She had a backpack on her back. It seemed like she was coming home from school.

She looked up at him. "Hello, mister!" She waved, her voice filled with child innocence. Peter hesitated and waved back. Her expression changed and she walked quickly over to him, still balancing on the edge of the sidewalk.

"Hey, kid..." Peter said, surprised.

She stood right under him and looked at his eyes. "What's wrong?"

"Uhhh…why do you want to know?"

The girl smiled widely. "Because I want to be helpful!" She took a few steps back and held out her hand. "My name's Camilla, but my friends call me Cammie."

Peter was taken back. "Cammie?" He asked, and bent down to look her straight in the eye. She moved her arm and watched him. "Cammie Laurin?"

"How do you know my last name?" She said, looking confused. Peter pulled the girl into a hug.

"Oh, God, Cammie, I'm so sorry. I didn't want this to happen to you..." He stammered. The girl wrapped her small arms around him.

"It's okay, mister." Her child voice was so sweet. "You can cry."

Then, she suddenly pushed away. "Oh! I have to get home! I'm sorry, mister, but I have to train! Bye-bye!" She ran past him and waved back at him. 

"Cam?" He whispered as the scene changed.

Now, he was in a school hallway. It was probably a middle school, since it wasn't very big and it had lockers. 

A older version of the little girl walked out of the bathroom. Her brown hair had grown lighter, and it was tied into a messy bun. Her eyes were downcast as she messed with the bathroom pass in her hand.

Then, a guy walked over to her, and punched her shoulder. "Hey, it's you! The sixth-grader!" He stopped Cammie. "This isn't your hall. Go back. None of us want you, show-off."

Peter wanted to punch the guy, but he knew that they couldn't see him.

"You're just angry because I'm smarter than you." She looked up to him, a hint of anger in her eyes. "You'll be a bum at this rate, idiot."

The guy snapped and aimed a punch at her face, but she quickly ducked and ran off.

The scene was gone and then Peter was watching the same girl, curled up outside in she shade against the school. She had tears in her eyes, but she wasn't crying.

Then, a different guy saw her and quickly ran over.

"Cammie!?" He bent down next to her, grabbing onto her shoulder. "Are you okay?"

She nodded and wiped her eyes. The guy moved to sit next to her. Peter instantly knew he was watching a flashback. The first thing, with the little girl, wasn't a flashback, but this was.

"Was it that stupid eight grader again?" The guy asked, looking at the younger Cammie worriedly.

"Yes." She told him softly. "But I'm fine. He didn't hurt me bad this time."

_This time?_

"Cam, you have to tell a teacher about this. He's hurting you!" The guy shook Cammie forcefully.

"Hannan, stop!" She complained. "You know I can't. Then it'll only get worse. He told me he'd get his friends..." She almost began crying.

"But if you don't tell anyone, then you'll just keep getting hurt." Hannan told her, then sighed. "Did you at least eat lunch today?"

When she shook her head, he reached for his lunchbox.

"I'm fine, Hannan. I'm not hungry." She curled back up, wrapping her arms around her legs.

"Please. You haven't been eating here for weeks!" He held a Ding Dong in front of her. She sighed and grabbed it.

Opening the package, she muttered, "You play dirty."

"At least it works." Hannan watched as she wolfed down the treat. Then he held out a granola bar.

"I'm good now."

"Eat it, or I'm going to tell the teachers you're not eating and that you're being bullied."

Her eyes widened, and she took the bar. "I hate you."

"Stop telling me what I already know." He shut his lunchbox and closed his eyes. "Cammie, I know your depressed."

"What? No, I'm perfectly fine." She said quickly.

"Cammie, I'm your only friend. And I'm only your friend because I won't leave you alone." He grabbed her empty hand. "You haven't been eating, and you're not reacting to the bulling you're receiving! I'm trying to help you."

Peter watched the scene in horror. Cammie, depressed?  _I get being depressed after her parents died, but now? In sixth grade? She should be happy! Cheerful!_

"Maybe I am depressed. No one will believe you." She smiled at him sadly. "You're the school's idiot."

"And you're the school's overworked genius. Now, please, let me help you."

"The bullies will be gone next year. And I'll eat more, I promise! And you know I can't make friends. They think I'm a monster." Cammie wiped another tear from her face.

Hannan grabbed her other hand. " _Then prove them wrong._ Show the world the Camilla that I know. Not scary, but gentle and kind. A sweetheart."

Tears falling off her face, she looked up at Hannan. "I can't."

"You can do anything. Fight the darkness, Cam. Let me guide you to the light."

The scene faded into darkness. Peter had begun crying. No, that couldn't be Cammie. She's too sweet. She's too happy. She could have never been depressed.

A new scene appeared. Cammie was a bit older, but a lot more depressed. Her hair hung loose around her, encasing her slim body. People stared as she hugged her binder to her chest and walked quickly away from everyone.

"Cammie!" Hannan yelled, running up to her. She kept walking even as he got next to her. She only stopped when he grabbed her arms. "Cammie, what happened?"

Suddenly, her arm wiped around and hit him across the face. Her brute strength made Hannan fall to the ground. Stunned, he looked up at her, not moving. She gave him an emotionless stare.

"Only my friends call me Cammie. And you're not one anymore. So leave me alone." She turned around and ran off. Hannan stood up, tears in his eyes.

"Cam?" He whispered.

Peter watched as the young man watched Cammie run away. Hannan began to cry.

Then, suddenly, he said, "Take care of her, Peter. I don't want her to get hurt."

A scream filled the air, and Peter woke up.


	16. Chapter 16--Bloody Tears

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Okay, I've had to rewrite this chapter so many times, I'm mad at this. So, it'll be short.  
> Blood Warning.  
> Suicide Attempts.

Cammie woke up in a brightly lit cell. It blinded her as she pulled herself up on her sore limbs. 

Her head hurt like someone was driving knives into it, tearing her skull in half.  She went to grab her hair, like she always did when she was in pain, when she didn't feel it.

Scared, she brought her hands up. Her hair was resting just above her shoulders.

"I see you noticed that you're different." The man said behind her. She quickly turned around. "I had to give the little princess a make-over. I can't believe you haven't seen your dress yet."

Looking down, she saw that she wasn't in her normal clothes anymore. Instead, she wore a light blue dress that went to her knees. The sleeves were tank-top like, and she had long white gloves. Her legs were covered in similar leggings.

"Don't worry, it wasn't me that changed you." He held up his hands. "I have one of my...assistances do the changing. I do love the dress, though."

"What is freaking wrong with you!" Cammie screamed, walking over and punching him. He laughed and pressed a button on his watch. She fell to the ground, being electrocuted. The energy filled her veins, and it made tears fall down her face.

"What's wrong with me?" He loomed over her. "I don't want to hurt you, princess. If you gave me what I wanted, you would go home, unhurt." He bent down, looking straight at her face. "I can't say the same for your friends, however."

"Don't hurt them!" She screamed. But she couldn't move to punch him. The man stood up and kicked her side, hard.

"You'd rather have me hurt you?" He growled.

"I'd rather  _ die _ then have them hurt." She braced herself as move kicks hit her side. At least one of her ribs were cracked, if not broken. 

Then, he picked her up by the collar of her dress. "I would love to kill you, little princess. But I need you."

"I'm not a princess!" She screamed and kicked him. He gasped and dropped her. Cammie hurriedly moved to the wall opposite of the man. Leaning against the wall, she watched him hiss and run at her. She dodged him, using her skills she'd learned to her advantage. Her sides and head distracted her and begged her to stop, but she couldn't. 

She was locked in the deadly dance, knowing that when she was caught, she would be hurt badly. Eventually, the man grabbed the hem of her dress and pulled her closer. Pulling out a knife, he cut her all over her arms. She lost count, the pain making her eyes tear up. The cuts weren't deep, however, and some had stopped bleeding when she was pushed to the ground.

She tried to scoot back away from him, but he stood on her dress, and she couldn't break away. He began kicking her sides again, and electrocuted her over and over. It hurt, but she didn't scream. She didn't beg him to stop. It would only make it worse.

When he did stop, he took a few steps back. Cammie didn't move, because moving hurt to much.

Something inside her begged her to just give the man what he wanted, but Cammie ignored the voice. She had to protect her friends. They would save her. Soon. But she had to give them time.

_ For my friends.  _ Tears fell down her face as the man left.  _ For my dead family, who think I'm strong. _

She smiled to herself.  _ So I can beat Peter in another duel. _

\--

Two weeks had passed, and there was still no sign of Cammie. Everyone was getting restless. Even Peter, who had decided he wanted to help, was stumped. 

Peter wasn't an idiot. He knew that he wasn't going to be able to do much. But he still had to help.

He took in everything that Bruce had explained to him, although it wasn't much. Apparently, there was no other witnesses. But Peter knew the atmosphere wasn't the same he was feeling. The one around him was dark and tense. Peter was slightly optimistic.

He remembered what the guy in his dream said. " _ Take care of her. I don't want to see her hurt." _ He needed to find Cam, and tell her what he knew about her past. He needed to help her get through this. 

One morning, while Peter was eating breakfast with Bucky and Steve, the tense silence was ruined. "Steve, Bucky, Mr. Stark would like to see you."

Peter looked at the upset faces of his friends as they got up and left. Peter got up to follow them.

"Mr. Parker, Mr. Stark has asked that you don't follow them." Friday told him. Peter sighed.

"Well, it's about Cammie. So I need to hear." Peter climbed onto the wall and into one of the vents. He had learned a full map of the place from Clint, so he quickly got to Tony's office.

With his super hearing, he was able to hear through the vents. 

There was a man talking, and then a hoarse girl's reply. Peter struggled to stay quiet as he realized that it was a captive video of Cammie and the kidnapper. Tears rolled down his face as he listened.

_ "So, little princess, still have hopes your friends will find you?"  _ The man asked.

_ "'Course I do. They just need more time."  _ Cammie replied, and then something happened that made her gasp and breathe heavy.

_ "They have the world's smartest and strongest men looking for you. Why haven't they found you yet?" _

Then Cammie began crying.  _ "I don't know! I don't know, but I'm still not giving you anything!" _

A bloodcurdling scream filled the room, and many of the people in the room gasped. A few things cracked and shattered.

_ "Tell me were they are!"  _ The man shouted.

_ "I'll never tell you! Just kill me already!"  _ Cammie yelled back.

"No, please, hold on...." Bucky whispered softly.

Peter regretted coming to listen to the video, but he couldn't leave. Not even when a second bloodcurdling scream erupted. 

_ "Why won't you kill me?!?!"  _ Cammie asked, angry.

_ "Because I still need you, princess." _

_ "Well I'm not going to help you!!" _

"Tony, shut it off." Steve said quietly, but Tony didn't hear. "Tony, turn it off!"

Tony complied as another scream began.

People were crying from under Peter. Peter almost was sobbing himself. But he had to hear the rest of the conversation.

"Cammie won't hold out any longer. We have to get to her, now." Steve told everyone, trying to be calm.

"We still don't have a clue were she is!" Tony shouted. "If we did, we would have her already!"

"Well, that's too bad. We need search teams, now. She can't be that far away. She was only knocked out for three hours before the first video, and the background hasn't changed a bit."

Just then, the door slammed open. "Tony! Guys!" Bruce said, out of breath. "I...think I found her..."

Everyone was silent of a split second. "Great!" Tony suddenly said. "Nat, Bruce, get the Med Bay ready. She's going to be injured bad. Everyone else, suit up."

"We can't bring everyone." Bruce replied. "It's too small."

"Then me, Bucky, Tony, Wanda, and Clint." Steve told him.

"Whoa, whoa," Sam said. "I need to come too."

"Fine." Tony's voice was shaking. Peter's eyes were wet, but his tears weren't all sad anymore. They found Cammie. She was going to be safe.

"Suit up." Steve exclaimed, and the room quickly emptied. Peter crawled back to the kitchen, wiping his eyes. 

Cammie was going to be okay.

If she wasn't dead yet.

\--

Cammie was broken.

She laid on the floor of her too-bright cell. Her left leg was broken, so she couldn't walk. A few of her ribs were broken, so she couldn't breathe well. And she hadn't ate anything in days, so she was starving.

She wanted it to end. She needed it to end. It had to end.

 _No, idiot!_ Her inner voice spoke.

She ignored it. Looking up, she saw an area on the wall she could pull herself up on. Just a small fall could do it. Then it wouldn't hurt anymore.

Cammie had given up any hope of being saved. But she still wouldn't give the man any information. She had to kick in her final defense before she spilled the secrets that she was trying so hard to keep.

Slowly, she pulled herself up, putting all of the weight on her weak right leg. She gave out a few shaking breathes as she climbed up the wall. Tears fell onto the ground. It was scary, but it was what she needed to do.

Just as she was about to push off the wall, however, the door was pulled off it's hinges. It was thrown into the hall, and a man walked in, covering his eyes as he looked around.

Cammie noticed the metal arm. "Bucky?" She asked, nervous. Her friend....

No. No, he wouldn't stop her.

She pushed off the wall, but Bucky still ran over and caught her. She tried to roll off of his arms, but Bucky pulled her into a hug.

"Oh, God, Cammie...." He muttered. Cammie hesitated.

"You're...hurting...me..." Cammie said, clearly feeling her ribs. He stopped and held her back, holding her shoulders.

"I'm sorry." Bucky whispered. "Come here."

He gently pulled her over and set her on his back. He kept her up only at her right side so her left leg didn't get moved to bad. She gripped his shoulders.

But she was still hurt. She still wanted the pain the stop. She get go of his shoulders.

Bucky was too quick. He turned around and held her up by her back. Cammie's eyes were filled with tears.

"Please..." She whispered. "Please..."

Bucky sighed and set her down. "No, kid. I can't do that." He grabbed her shoulder so she didn't run off. "You know I can't. I care about you."

"Then let me..." Her tears started to fall. "It'll...be better..."

"No, it won't. Kid, listen to me." He gripped her other shoulder as she tried to escape his grip. "Suicide? That's not the right way. We'll help you. Just fight for a little longer."

"No..." She tried to escape. "No! I'm tired of fighting!"

"I don't care!" Bucky shouted. It made Cammie freeze, scared. "You have to fight. You're a superhero."

"No, I'm not!" She screamed. "I did one thing!"

"That one thing saved Earth, kid. You even were able to revive two people." Bucky calmed down.

Cammie snapped. "I didn't want to do that! If I brought anyone back, it would be my family!"

"Then why don't you?"

"Because I gave the only chance I had to save Steve and Pietro." She looked him dead in the eye. "I'm alone. And I want to be with them. I want the pain to stop."

Bucky picked her up again. "Well, the pain will stop when we get to Bruce. And you're family? I know how it's like." He pushed her back onto his back and held her hands around his neck. "But I found a new one. With the Avengers, who let me come in even after I caused so much trouble for them. They'll let you come, too."

"But I don't want a new family." Cammie whispered, near the brink of tears. "I want my old one."

"We all do, kiddo." Bucky began slowly climbing up the stairs. "But you're already friends with most of us. It's been not even two months, and we already care about you."

Cammie rested her head on Bucky's back. "I do too." She whispered. "I'm so sorry..."

"Cam, it's okay. We all have those times." Bucky finished climbing the stairs. "It'll end soon."

"If it's going to end," She muttered. "Then it should have ended in middle school."

Bucky paused, then kept walking in silence. Cammie knew her mistake, but she couldn't take it back. She just kept her face in his back, scared to look up and at the people she was going to be around.

"Bucky!" Steve said as they met up with the others. "You took forever to get up here, I was getting worried."

Everyone looked at the small girl on his back. Cammie didn't even bother to look at them. She was scared.

Her body hurt.

"Cammie?" Wanda asked, softly. "Are you okay?"

Cammie didn't move.

Footsteps came up to her. "Cam, can you hear me?" Tony said.

She nodded.

"Great! Well, we need to get you back to the Compound. Bruce is going to need to help you. Are you okay with that?"

She nodded again.

"Awesome. Well, there's no one else around." Tony began to walk away. "I can't stand it here anymore. Let's go."

Bucky took Cammie to a van that was outside the building. There, he set her down on a soft seat. She just looked down at the floor of the van, two weak to swing her legs. Then, he slid in next to her.

Wanda sat on her other side, and Tony and Steve sat in front of them. Sam and Clint were in the front two seats. The van quickly started and drove towards the Compound.

"Shouldn't she be laying down?" Steve asked, looking back at them.

"I'm fine." Cammie muttered.

She closed her eyes. It was too bright outside, and it was bothering her. Her whole body was still hurting.

She needed it to stop.

 _No,_ Her inner voice told her.  _You'll survive. Just remember what Bucky told you._

The once-white gloves were dirty and bloody. She pulled them slowly off her arms, setting them on her lap. Her once-blue dress was as dirty as the gloves.

"Why are you in a dress?" Wanda asked softly.

"Because I was the man's little princess." Cammie whispered. 

The rest of the ride was quiet. Cammie marveled at how clean her arms were the sleeves covered. They were as pale as normal. Just how they were supposed to.

Tears filled her eyes again. She was in so much pain. She wanted it to end. 

The drive back was unbearable.


	17. Chapter 17--NO BREAKS

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Much milder than last chapter, but it's also shorter. I hope you guys like it.
> 
> Self-Harm Warning

When they got to the Compound, Cammie was taken straight to Med-Bay. No goodbyes, no hellos, no 'how are you', just straight to getting better.

Somehow, she wasn't fully relieved. 

\--

Bucky sighed as he watched Cammie be taken away. The girl looked terrified, and for good reason.

 _"If it's going to end, then it should have ended in middle school_ _"_

How long had she been going through this?

"Buck, is there something on you mind?" Steve asked, patting Bucky's shoulder.

"Yes." Bucky didn't even try to hide it. "Something that Cammie said is sticking in my head."

"Want to talk about it?"

"Not right now." Bucky began to walk away, going to his rooms.

"I think that you need to." Steve said, grabbing his friend's arm.

Bucky sighed. "Fine. But I'm not sure she wants anyone to hear what I'm telling you."

"Then I'll keep it secret."

\--

Peter listened from around a corner. Bucky was worried over something Cammie had said. Peter had to know what that was.

As Bucky and Steve began walking up to one of the rooms, Peter crossed his arms and stood in front of them.

"Bucky, whatever Cammie told you, you're going to tell me." He demanded, looking them straight in the eye.

"Peter, you don't know what's going on..." Steve started, but Bucky interrupted.

"It's fine. It's something that's important. He's Cam's friend."

Peter smiled, and followed the two men up to Bucky's room.

\--

"So, explain what this is all about." Steve said, closing the door after Peter walked in and sat down on the bed. Bucky sat next to him, and Steve next to him.

"Well....this is really hard to say. It doesn't even seem real..." Bucky closed his eyes. "I walked into the cell that Cammie was in, and saw her standing up. I figured she was just trying to leave, trying to break out. She fell, and I barely caught her. I figured that she just couldn't walk very well. But..." Bucky took a deep breath. "That wasn't the deal."

Bucky stopped for a second, remembering the scene. "I caught her, and gave her a hug. Then I started to carry her on my back, to get her back upstairs. I figured she wouldn't talk, but not anything else."

Peter's eyes widened. 

"She let go of my shoulders and fell. I still told myself that she was still weak, that I should have held her better. But when I caught her, she was nearly crying, and she whispered 'please'..." Bucky looked over at the two around him.

Steve looked utterly shocked. He couldn't believe the face of what Bucky had told him. Any normal day, the expression would have made Bucky laugh. But not today.

On the other hand, Peter didn't looked surprised at all. His eyes were closed, like he was figuring out something. Then his eyes flashed open. "Wow. That doesn't sound so crazy." Looking at the confused men, he changed his words. "I mean...I had a weird flashback, but it was her past. It....it showed her depressed from bulling while she was only in sixth grade. Having her depressed now....It's what should be expected. I never expected anything so bad."

Pieces of the puzzle clicked in Bucky's mind. Why she was tired of fighting. Why she said that it should have ended in middle school.

_That little depressed idiot._

"When she get's better," Peter started, reading Bucky's mind. "Cammie isn't leaving my sight."

\--

Cammie was unconscious while they dealt with her worst injuries. While they re-broke and wrapped up her broken leg, and while they healed up her broken ribs. She still felt a lot of the pain, but didn't complain. They wouldn't help her.

She'd been left alone after everything was done. She cleaned and brushed her hair, then laid quietly on her bed.

Please, just let this be over.

_No._

Please, I beg of you...

_No. No one wants that._

But it's what I want...why can't I have what I want?

_Because it's not right._

But it's what I want!

Cammie squeezed her eyes and resisted a scream. She felt the faint lightness that Bucky had given her leave. Just fall out of the bed...

_No, you effing idiot. No!_

Why was her inner voice such a jerk?

Her head began to throb. Clenching her hands, she tried to ignore it.

The door opened, and Cammie opened her eyes slightly. Dr. Banner walked in with an I-Pad. "Are you feeling okay, Cam?"

"I'm fine." She replied in her most convincing voice.  _Just go away, please..._

He set his hand on her forehead. "I need to give you a little bit more medicine. I'll be back in a second. Do you think you can take some pills?"

"Sure." She unclenched her hands a bit. "Ya, I can take a few."

Dr. Banner smiled. "Good. I'll also grab a few more painkillers." He gently patted her shoulder and left.

As the door closed, she smacked her head onto her pillow and whimpered. Her head was hurting even more, and it was starting to really bug her.  _Just stop...please...._

Her long nails cut into her skin. Funny, usually bleeding would scare her. But now, it didn't bug her. Her nails dug in harder.

Dr. Banner came in again, and noticed her hands. He quickly flattened her hands onto his, flipping them over to see the crescent-moon cuts in her hand. He sighed and grabbed some of the healing medicine and brushed it on the cuts.

"Does something hurt?" He asked, knowing she wouldn't do that without a reason.

She nodded, her eyes still squeezed shut. Dr. Banner wrapped her hands in light bandages and grabbed the pills and a water bottle. 

"Can you take these?" Dr. Banner set them in her bandaged hands. Cammie opened her eyes and slowly took them. Then she closed her eyes and laid back down.

Dr. Banner watched her worriedly. "Are you sure you're okay?"

"I'm fine, Dr. Banner." She told him, loudly. "It's just a headache."

"Okay, then." He began walking out of the room. "I'll get you something to eat later."

She was quiet, trying to not clench her hands again until he left. Once the door shut, however, her nails went straight to where they were before. The bandages soon became red.

It was only about ten minutes since Dr. Banner had left when the door opened. It was Bucky, who figured he'd be the best to talk to her. He was carrying a sandwich that she really liked.

When he saw her, he cursed loudly and set down the food. Just like Dr. Banner, he separated her hands quickly. "God, Cam..." He muttered, holding her hands. "This is the exact reason why I don't want anyone to be in here..."

She ripped her hands away, trying to back up. But her leg forced her to stay. Bucky grabbed her arm.

"Let go!" She screamed, trying to move her arm away. Her limbs were still weak, though, and she couldn't pull very hard. Bucky's metal arm grabbed her shoulder to hold her in place. Tears began streaming down her face. She kept struggling.

Bucky kept holding her in place. His hurt expression made Cammie feel terrible, but she didn't want him keeping her still. She kept trying to break through.

"Bucky! Stop!" She shouted, finally pulling away. She fell backwards on the bed, and she began trying to kick him with her right leg. For spending two weeks with barely any food and water and with being hurt every day, she was really strong.

Bucky watched her with wide eyes. He stood up, and walked out of the room, distressed.

Cammie wasn't sure what she had done.

\--

Bucky quickly left the Compound, not bothering to talk to anyone he walked by. His breathing was growing faster, and his walking was more clumsy.

He had just gotten out of sight of the Compound when he fell to the ground, still breathing heavily. He couldn't take it in.

The pure fear he'd seen in her eyes. She had been so scared, and had tried to hard to get away. What had he done wrong? He had just tried to talk to her, but he flipped out when he had saw her hands. It was just...scary.

He sat on the ground, trying to catch his breath. He sat with his head between his legs.

After a few minutes, there was a hand on his shoulder. "You feeling okay, Buck?" Steve asked, sitting down next to him.

"I feel terrible." Bucky said quietly. 

"Can I ask why?"

Bucky lifted his head and faced Steve. "I went to go visit Cam, so see how she was doing...and...I scared her. A ton."

"Do...you know why she's scared?"

"I...When I walked in, she was clenching her hands. Her hands were already bandaged, and...I knew she was trying to hurt herself. So...I flipped out. I grabbed her hands, and she just tried to escape. When she did, I had to leave." Bucky rested his face on his hands. "God, I feel so horrible..."

"It's not your fault, Bucky." Steve said calmly. "She's still recovering. Cam's been next to alone for two weeks. And by what you told me, I think she needs to get used to people again. She'll get better, but it takes time."

"I can't get her eyes out of my head. They looked...so young. So scared. Like she was just a little kid."

"She  _is_ a kid. A kid who's been through a lot." Steve smiled at Bucky. "It's something we all go through." Then he stood up. "You want to come back?"

"In a bit. I still need to breath." Bucky told him. "Thanks."

"I'm your friend, Buck." Steve patted his head and walked away.


	18. Chapter 18--Inside Her Head

Cammie laid on her hospital bed, completely bored and lonely. Since Bucky had left, no one had came into her room. Not even Dr. Banner to check on her and make sure she was okay.

God, she was so lonely.

Why won't anyone come in?

_Because of what you did to Bucky._

But...he tried to hurt me!

_He tried to help you, idiot._

Since when did help hurt?

_You struggled to much. If you let him help you, then he wouldn't of hurt._

Cammie felt a tear fall down her face.

I don't want him to be upset...

_Well, you should have thought about that before you hurt him._

Why can't I forgive him? 

_Because of your actions. They were all wrong._

Cammie sighed heavily.

Why can't I do anything right? Why do I try?

_You do things right, Cam. Just not all of the time._

But I've messed up everything. Everyone hates me.

_No one hates you. They're just confused. They still love you._

Then why aren't they here!?!

_I've already told you. Because you hurt Bucky._

THEN THEY SHOULD LET ME APOLOGIZE!!!!

_But they don't know what'll you do. They think you're dangerous._

Cammie sighed. When have people not thought I was dangerous? Now do you get why I want to leave?

_Let me rephrase that. Dr. Banner thinks you're unstable, and that you might think you're going to do something you're going to regret. Everyone else, even Bucky, think you're just distressed. They're just protecting you._

I regret my life, Mister Voice. I regret everything.

_Do you regret killing Mortem? Do you regret meeting Peter and the Avengers?_

Cammie closed her eyes. I hate you.

_I know you do. But I love you._

\--

Peter watched as Cammie's tears fell down her face. He began wishing that the one-sided glass would disappear so he could go give her a hug. But Dr. Banner said that she wasn't ready to see anyone yet. But...she looked so lonely. 

"I want to go talk to her." Peter told Dr. Banner, who was sitting nearby.

"I said no, Peter." Dr. Banner replied, not even looking up from his book.

"Well, can't you give her  _anything_?" Peter asked angerly. Banner looked up, surprised. 

Banner thought for a second. "I didn't think of that. Do you know if she likes YouTube?" 

Peter smiled slightly. "She does. And I know her account password."

"That's scary." Banner grabbed out a I-Pad and handed it to Peter. "But it's expected. You're Tony's kid."

Peter logged on to the I-Pad and got onto YouTube. As he typed in her password and got onto her account. Curious, he looked at her subscriptions.

Bijuu Mike? No clue who he was. Looks like a weeb. Was Cammie a weeb?

Game Theorists? Film Theorists? Those nerds were amazing.

Gtlive? Right. The Game Theorist's live streaming channel.

Erutan Music? That's just music.

Peter smiled at them. God, Cammie was a strange girl.

"I'll give her this." Peter told Dr. Banner. "Can I?"

"Sure. Just don't stay long."

Peter walked towards the door, taking a deep breath before opening the door.

Cammie opened her eyes and watched him as he walked in. Her eyes were red, so he knew she'd been crying.

"Hey, Cam..." Peter said cautiously. "I brought you something." He quickly locked the screen on the I-Pad to Cammie couldn't search up anything. Then he handed her the I-Pad.

She slowly took it. After looking at the screen for a few seconds, she looked back up. "You know my password?"

"You use the same exact one for everything."

They both smiled and were quiet. Then Peter began to leave. 

"Wait." Cammie asked softly. "I need to ask you a few things."

"Ya?"

"Can you tell Bucky...that I'm sorry for what happened? I wasn't thinking." 

Peter walked back over and grabbed her hand. "Of course."

"And...do you know how long I'll be in here?"

Peter was quiet. He didn't know. Cammie took the hint.

"And...can you asked for Dr. Banner to shut off the lights? Or at least dim them? It's starting to hurt my eyes." She said that slightly embarrassed.

It made Peter laugh slightly. "Why not?" He played with her hair for a second, not used to her super-short hair. "I'll talk to you again later."

"Thanks, Peter." She replied, smiling. Then she looked down and started tapping away at her I-Pad.

As Peter left the room, he sighed a breath of relief. She wasn't very angry. In fact, she'd just been lonely. She even asked to tell Bucky that she was sorry.

Even though he wanted to go straight to Bucky, he turned to Dr. Banner. "Can you dim the lights in her room? It's starting to hurt her eyes." He asked. Banner nodded, and tapped a pad a few times. The lights in Cammie's room dimmed. She gave a thumbs up and played her video.

 _"Well, well, well guys. Welcome back...wow. It's..it's kind of been a while..."_ A man's voice said from the video. Cammie clearly wasn't caring if Peter heard it.  _"Welcome to Doki Doki Exit Music."_

"Doki Doki." Peter whispered. "She is a weeb."

"Huh?" Dr. Banner asked, confused.

"The video she's watching. I can kind of hear it. She's watching a game playthrough. It's a anime horror game."

Dr. Banner sighed. "Why you kids watch these things, I have no clue. But...if it makes her happy..."

Peter smiled. "I don't get Doki Doki either. Or anime. I'm a nerd. Not a weeb."

"Well, then it's good that she had YouTube." Dr. Banner laughed. "Because I don't get cartoons."

Peter laughed hard. "They aren't cartoons."

Then Peter left, going to solve the other request Cammie had asked him.

\--

When Peter finally found Bucky, he was eating something in the kitchen. Bucky didn't seem to notice Peter walk in.

"Hey, Bucky." Peter said, nervously. 

"What's up, kid?"

Peter grabbed an apple and hesitated. "I talked to Cammie a little bit ago. She said to tell you that she was sorry, and that she wasn't thinking."

Bucky looked at the kid. "Really? Well, I figured that, but it's nice to hear that. Is Bruce allowing visitors now?"

"No. I was giving her an I-Pad so she could watch YouTube." Peter admitted, smiling. "I figured that she would enjoy that."

"Kids these days..." Bucky sighed. 

\--

Cammie watched YouTube for hours straight. It was something that she hadn't done in forever, since the summer before high school before her parents died. It felt right. She had to catch up on a bunch of playthroughs, so it wasn't very hard. Just listening to her favorite YouTuber's voice was soothing. It had been almost two years since she had really watched them. 

Now, MatPat's son was two years old, and Bijuu Mike now had green  _and_ yellow hair, and his room was even more covered in anime, as if it was possible. It was amazing. It had been something great. 

After a few hours, the lights came back on. Cammie looked up and paused her video. Dr. Banner had walked in, and he was holding a plate with pizza and a bunch of fruit, and a few more water bottles. Cammie turned off the I-Pad and set it down. She slowly adjusted herself, keeping her left leg still.

"Thanks, Dr. Banner." She said, happily. The plate was handed to her and she set it on her lap. Dr. Banner set the water bottles on the table nearby, and sat at the foot of her bed. He watched her as she quickly ate her pizza.

"Are you feeling any better? You had a fever, and you lost a lot of blood." He asked. Cammie nodded.

"I'm perfectly fine now." She smiled. "I'm always better after food, water, laying on a bed, and watching YouTube."

Dr. Banner sighed. "Well, no matter what, you're going to have to stay here for at least tonight. And you'll be under watch for awhile."

"So tomorrow I'll get my bracelet back?" She asked, hopefully.

"I'll decide." He patted her head softly. "I'll see you later."

"Bye Dr. Banner!" She waved as he walked away, then took a bite of one of the fruits.

Once she was done eating, she laid down on the bed, happy. The lights dimmed once more and Cammie closed her eyes.

\--

Cammie opened her eyes in her bed. Not her hospital bed, or her bed in the Compound. It was her old bed, the one she'd slept in for seven years. She quickly sat up and looked around.

The lights were on. Eight-year old her was sitting on the floor, drawing a picture with crayons. Cammie walked over and looked at the picture.

It was a picture of her family. Her mom, dad, older brother, and little sister. Cammie had drawn herself in the middle, smiling widely. Her whole family was smiling a little less, but they were still smiling.

Little Cam grabbed the picture and ran out of the room. Cammie followed her.

"Mom! Mom!" She yelled, running up to a younger and alive version of her mom. "Do you like my picture?"

"Of course I do!" Mom picked up the picture and looked at it. "It's lovely."

She handed the picture back to Little Cam and Little Cam ran back to her room. Cammie kept following her.

In her room, Little Cam grabbed a new piece of paper and began to draw. She didn't noticed when her older brother, Chris, walked in the door until the paper moved.

"Your picture sucks, Cam." He said meanly.

"No, it's not! Mom liked it!" Little Cam yelled, standing up. "Give it back!"

Chris smirked and ripped it twice. Then he handed the three pieces back to her. Little Cam's eyes were watering as she took it back.

Cammie remembered the moment clearly. It was so terrible. Chris had ripped Little Cam out of the whole picture. Little Cam kicked her brother in the shin.

"Chris!" She screamed. "You idiot!! Why'd you do that?"

Chris shrugged and left the room, with the little girl sobbing on the floor.

Then, Cammie was back in the Compound. It was dark, with very little light. Again, Little Cam was standing in the hallway. But she was wearing a nightgown and was holding a teddy bear. The teddy bear was instantly recognizable. Suddenly, Cammie remembered the dream.

Little Cam slowly walked down the hall, her small feet patting the ground. Cammie's feet made no sound, since she really wasn't there.

They walked alone for a while, until they turned into a brightly-lit room. The kitchen?

Standing in the kitchen, a figure towered over Little Cam. He was reading a newspaper. Little Cam tugged at his pants. "Mister? Where am I?" She asked.

The man let down his paper. Instantly, Cammie recognized him as Steve. Steve bent down at the little girl.

"How'd you get here, kiddo?" He said, grabbing her hand.

"I...don't know." Little Cam replied, her voice trembling.

"Here, let me take you to a bed. I'll find your parents in the morning." Steve stood up and held her hand as the walked towards the rooms. "What's your name?"

"Cammie."

"Well, my name is Steve. I'm going to take you to my friend, Bucky. Do you want to meet him?"

Cammie smiled as she followed the two. This was one of her favorite dreams, but it had only hazily in her head.

"You're an Avenger." Little Cam said. 

Cammie suddenly remembered that during this time, Bucky would still be the Winter Soldier. This...this had to be during her time. 2020, right? Because, everything was so familiar.

"Yes, I am. Captain America."

They stood in front of a door. It had to be the one to Bucky's room. Steve opened the door.

Bucky laid peacefully on the bed. It was the first time Cammie had seen him asleep.

Steve walked over and shook him. "Buck, Bucky, wake up..."

Bucky stirred and opened his eyes slowly. "Wh...what do you want?"

"There's a kid here, and I have no clue what to do." Steve waved Little Cam over. "Come here, kiddo."

Little Cam hugged her teddy bear and slowly walked over. Bucky turned over and looked at the scared girl.

"Hey, kid." Bucky whispered. "Where are your parents?"

"I don't know." Little Cam hugged her bear tighter. "I just...was here."

"What's your name?"

"C-Cammie."

Bucky sat up. Little Cam stared at his metal arm. "Do you want to lay down?"

"You have a metal arm." She pointed to his arm. "Can I touch it?"

Steve picked her up and set Little Cam on the bed. Cammie watched from the end of the bed. Little Cam gently brushed her hand across Bucky's metal arm. Her teddy bear was clenched in her other hand. 

"It's cool." Little Cam whispered. 

Then, Little Cam laid down, covering her face with her teddy bear. Steve moved her hair back and sat next to her. "You want to sleep here?"

"Can I?" Little Cam asked. When Steve nodded, she moved her teddy bear to her stomach and tucked her arm under her head. Bucky moved a blanket over her and Steve laid on her other side.

Even though it was just a dream, it was so real for Cammie. It was so warm under the blanket with the two older guys. Bucky's arm felt so real. It also was the first time that Cammie had slept between two people. Even when she had nightmares as a child, she always fought them in her room, usually staying up all night. That dream was the first time she felt safe. Really, it was the only time.

But as the dream went on, and Little Cam fell asleep, Steve and Bucky were talking.

"What do you think she's going to do in her future?" Steve asked, watching the small child.

"I have no clue. But I feel like we'll really meet her one day."

They both looked over at Cammie. She smiled and waved. They waved back.

"Well, I guess we already have." Bucky smiled.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, a few things.  
> 1\. The dream that happened with Steve, Bucky, and Little Cam look place in 2020, when the rest of this story is taking place, but it's actually seven year old Cammie meeting them. Remember,  
> 2\. All of the YouTubers and even the video that Cammie watches is real. Go watch and subscribe to all of there channels. I'll add links later.
> 
> Bijuu Mike  
> Film Theorists  
> Game Theorists  
> Gtlive  
> Erutan Music


	19. Chapter 19--

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This one is SUPER short. I'm sorry. Next one will be longer.

Cammie woke up that morning with a peaceful persona. Her dreams helped keep her sane, and now she knew the meaning behind one of her favorite dreams. She wondered if Steve and Bucky had seen the same thing.

She sat up and looked at her cuts. They were healing much faster than they were before. Her leg still hurt, though. And her head a bit. But she was better.

Dr. Banner checked on her in the morning. She was let out to use the bathroom, which was very hard with a broken leg. Then she came back and was given a quick check up.

"Well, I'm going to let you out..."He started. "But you can't use your magic yet. Not until tomorrow."

Cammie frowned. "Not even to fix my leg."

"No. It could disrupt your peaceful demeaner. And I want to make sure that it's not just temporary."

Cammie was given a pair of crutches and was allowed to walk around. She quickly hated the crutches. She'd used them once to play a prank on someone, to help win a classroom game, but that was it.

She had met up with Peter and they both went up to play Mario Kart with Clint. It would let Cammie sit down, and they were all great at it. 

When she and Peter met up with Clint, there was already a group around them. Tony, Steve, Bucky, Nat, Sam, and even Banner were sitting around with popcorn. "We had to see this." Tony explained. Cammie sighed and took one of the Wii remotes and sat down. She then tied her hair in a ponytail and waited for Clint to get the game ready. 

When they started, they did a 100k race. Peter chose Bowser, Clint chose Mario, and Cammie chose Donkey Kong. They quickly got through the races. They all about tied in the wins, with Clint barely in the lead with 5, with both Peter and Cammie with 4 after 13 races. 

"Okay, last race." Clint decided after the 13th race. "Rainbow road. Winner takes all."

"What does the winner get?" Peter asked.

"They get to....decide...something." Clint said, clicking onto the race. Bucky walked over and grabbed an extra remote.

"Ya, I'm joining in." He decided and sat down next to him. "I have the best idea on what to do."

Cammie didn't really look at him, and she didn't think that he looked at her at all. They all chose their characters and began to race. 

Clint quickly got into first place, and Cammie nearly fell off in the first second of the race.

"I hate rainbow road." She muttered, getting to the middle and getting into 5th place.

Bucky, who wasn't very good at the game, was behind her. Peter was in 2nd place. 

The race was on. 

Clint and Peter were amazing and were neck and neck, while Cammie and Bucky kept falling off the road. 

During the second lap, however, Cammie got an amazing idea. She moved closer to Bucky.

"We're going to win." She whispered, and told him her plan. He smirked and nodded.

They both focused on staying on the road. The whole plan was based on luck, but the luck went out. Both of them got blue shells.

As the last lap started, both of them got right behind Peter and Clint. Neither of them had noticed the two come up, just kept trying to pass each other.

At the end of the lap, both Cammie and Bucky fell back. "Now!" Cammie whispered, and shot her blue shell out. It hit Clint, who was in first. He fell off the track, and then cursed.

Peter cheered as the took first, but then Bucky let out his blue shell and Peter fell off also. Both Bucky and Cammie shot for first, and passed the finish line. Bucky barely won.

"Yes!" Bucky cheered as the race ended. Cammie smiled and fell back onto the couch. Clint and Peter stared at each other, shocked.

"How...how did you win?" Clint asked.

Bucky glanced at Cammie. "Because I got help."

"And a whole ton of luck." Cammie replied. "It we only got one blue shell, then we'd be screwed."

"You two worked together?" Peter asked, surprised. "You two are evil."

Bucky patted Cammie's head. "Do you want the prize?"

"No. You keep it. I have no clue what to do." She told him, adjusting her leg.  

Peter sighed and grabbed the TV remote. Everyone else that was in the room left, having to do work. Soon, only Bucky, Clint, Peter, and Cammie were left.

"What do you want to watch?" Peter asked everyone.

"Why? Are we doing a sudden movie night?" Clint asked. "It's ten o'clock."

"Well, the last one we did was...less than good. But now I think we should try again. Just a few people." He gave Cammie a glance. She frowned at him.

"You don't want me to get back up." Cammie said. It wasn't a question.

He was quiet. The other two men smiled. 

"Well, let's watch something Sci-Fi." Clint said. "Bucky, what have you seen?"

"Uh...Lord of the Rings?" 

"All of them?"

"Only the first."

Everyone laughed and Clint stood up.

"Well, you need to watch them." He walked over to the movie case and pulled out the case.

Cammie, Peter, and Bucky got comfortable on the couch while Clint put the movie in. They didn't speak, but it wasn't bad. Peter propped his legs up next to Cammie's broken one. Cammie untied her hair and adjusted her hair so she could get used to the shortness of it. It tickled her shoulders. 

As Clint came back, he walked behind them and pushed both of the kids' heads closer. It surprised them both, but Cammie ducked her head and bent over. "Eff you, Clint." She said, bringing her head back. He laughed and sat down next to Bucky.

"Can't say I didn't try." He smiled, and began the movie. 

\--

The purple figure had died two years ago. He was rested upon a stone, in full golden armor with his gauntlet on.

The mad titan had been buried with his armor by his old followers. In respect for the once-god who had taken over the universe, if only for a bit. Who was able to kill many of the Avengers.

Thanos opened his eyes. His eyes were the colors of the Infinity Stones, the ones that had been destroyed.

Thanos was once again, alive.

And he wanted vengeance.

\--

The next few days were peaceful. Cammie was allowed to heal her leg, but she still couldn't wear it around. It was fine, however, and she was allowed to walk around outside. When it wasn't raining, she would sit outside in the trees and read. 

But the peacefulness was temporary.


	20. Chapter 20--Thanos

Bruce had been nervous for awhile now. Something felt...wrong. So he kept his eye out for anything that was different. Anything that would cause a disturbance.

Then, as he was reading his book, an alert came from his computer. Quickly, he looked over the alert.

A high energy alert came from near the old Stark Tower. Something crazy. 

"Tony, you need to see this." Bruce said into his com.

_ "Why? What is it?" _ Tony asked.

"South of Stark Tower. High energy alert. Something's there."

_ "But...the last time...wasn't it Thanos?" _

"Right. So get everyone that's around. And if it is Thanos, then get Thor and have him get the Guardians. We need everyone."

_ "What about Cam? Does she come with us, or is she staying here?" _

"She's staying here, unless we need her to come. Call everyone to the Tower."

\--

It was late in the morning, but Cammie was sleeping in. Over the past week since she'd fixed her leg, she wasn't getting any sleep. So no one bothered to wake her up.

But as the lights turned on and an alarmed sounded, Cammie quickly woke up. She looked around, rubbing her eyes.

"Friday, what's going on?" She asked, trying to wake herself up.

"Nothing for your concern." She replied flatly. "It's only for something for the Avengers."

"Is there something wrong?"

"Nothing that you need to know."

Cammie cursed and threw her pillow at the wall. Then she stood up, slightly stumbling. "I think I should know. I can help!"

"Dr. Banner has said that you are staying here unless you are needed."

She walked over to the door, and tried to open it. It was locked. "Let me out, Friday."

"Dr. Banner said..."

"LET ME OUT! I need to help them!" She kept trying to open the door.

After a minute, she fell to the ground, angry. She kept cursing at the AI. 

The girl was leaning her head on the door, angry tears falling from her face. Her short hair covered her face, trying to figure out a way to get out. 

She focused on her bracelet, which was still under Dr. Banner's possession. Even without it, she had a bare minimum of the magic that she was born with. But it only came in times that she really needed it. And only when she wasn't exhausted. 

Suddenly, a light weight fell onto her left wrist. Smiling, she stood up, and wiped her eyes. 

"I'm sorry, Friday..." She glanced at the clock. Somehow, thirty minutes had passed. There was still no alert. "But I need to help them. They never take this long."

She dressed into her Silent Strike outfit, and climbed out the window. 

\--

When Peter had gotten to where Friday had told everyone to go, his heart had sunk. After two years of nightmares, he had finally gotten past everything. But now, everything was different.

A purple smoke rested on a rooftop. As the smoke disappeared, five figures rested on the building. Four people surrounding one big purple and gold man. Thanos.

Thanos was back.

Peter cursed loudly.

The five people separated, and automatically the Avengers broke into teams to fight them. Peter had somehow ended up with Wanda and Strange fighting Thanos. Crazy.

A fight broke out.

\--

Thanos knew what a real enemy is. Thor? Yes. The woman? Yes. Strange? Maybe. The Spider Child? No. 

But none of these people were his enemy today. He had to find the person who had delayed his revival. He had to take down the only one who could stop him now.

He couldn't find them. Who was this person? Who was his enemy?

After awhile of fighting, there was a flash of black on the nearby rooftop. There. There, was his enemy.

Using his remaining power, he teleported himself and the enemy away from everyone.

\--

As the purple titan disappeared, Tony looked around at the buildings as he held Squidward in his grasp, choking him. Did...was Cammie here?

_ "Hey, where did Thanos go?" _ Peter asked, glancing around.

"No clue, kid." Tony kept watching the rooftops.

_ "Hey, I thought you said that if we saw a black cloaked girl, to tell you." _ Quill pointed out, after coming about ten minutes ago.  _ "Well, I think I saw one disappear. With the same portal-thingy that Thanos left in." _

Tony cursed, but Peter spoke up,  _ "Portal-thingy? Then it's not Cammie. When she teleports, she leave behind a bit of glitter. I would know, she's done it many times in front of me. And Tony, I thought you said that you locked Cam in her room?" _

_ "Seriously, Stark?" _ Quill said.  _ "You made someone who could help us kill Thanos _ again _ stay out? We need to get this stupid titan off of this planet!" _

Tony sighed. "I had to keep her out, Quill. But I was going to alert her if we needed help."

_ "And when is that? After we all die? You are an idiot, Stark."  _ The green woman said. Tony had forgot her name.  _ "This isn't a normal enemy. This is Thanos. We need everyone." _

_ "I thought you were keeping her in the Compound!"  _ Peter complained.  _ "Did Bruce let her come?" _

_ "No!"  _ Bruce replied.

_ "I figured she'd get out." _ Bucky added.  _ "I'd be disappointed if she didn't. Cammie could beat us in a fight any day. If she really did get teleported to Thanos, then she stands a chance as we try to help her." _

_ "Well, then let's find her!" _ Peter yelled, punching one of the minions in the face. 

"Great." Tony muttered to himself. "Well, then let's finish up here and find her."

\--

As Cammie found everyone, she froze when Thanos looked up at her. His golden armor shone in the sun, and his purple skin was weird. 

The mad titan waved his hand, and he teleported himself and Cammie away from everyone else. 

They appeared on a park. It was unfamiliar, but people were around, and they screamed and ran off. Cammie built a forcefield around her and the Mad Titan. 

"So, you're the new superhero, huh?" Thanos asked, seeming almost non-violent.

Cammie thought about being quiet, but decided against it. "No. I'm not a new superhero. I'm just a person that has a magical bracelet."

Thanos's eyes lit up slightly. "Are you a Mura? I've always wanted to meet them."

"What, and kill half of us?"

"Your race is a mystery. So much knowledge! How could you ever leave from such a wonderful place?"

Cammie pulled out a sword. "I never was allowed to stay."

Thanos frowned at the sword. "I wanted to have a peaceful conversation. You seemed like a peaceful Mura. Are the rest of you like that?"

"I wouldn't know. The only ones I've met are crazy and tried to destroy the world." Cammie's sword pointed to Thanos's neck. "But you're here, and you're risking the lives of innocent people who have no choice in what you do."

"Well, I hope that this doesn't take long..." Thanos flexed his gauntlet. Cammie noticed that there was no Infinity Stones on the gauntlet, but there was faint auras of them. She felt them. "I will alert the Mura of them when I visit them."

"Well, they won't know me." Cammie ran at the purple titan, knowing that she could die. But she didn't care. At least she would die quickly.

\--

Peter Quill was surprised with Stark. Keeping a woman locked up in a building that could help them? With Thanos?!?!? God, that man would take a kid to space to fight Thanos, but not let a woman out of a building into New York to fight Thanos? 

Still, he was curious on who this woman was. So, along with the Spider Kid, Rocket, Gamora, and Strange, he looked around the city. It was his first time back to Earth since he was a kid, and everything was different. So techy.

He should get a new Walkman.

_ "Hey, why is there a purple glow over the park?" _  Rocket asked over the com. They all looked over to where he was pointing. 

_ "Oh, God..."  _ The Spider Kid said, landing down at the base of the glow.  _ "Dang it! Cammie!"  _ He screamed.

Gamora quickly jumped down there and pulled the kid back before he hit the dome. Peter kept trying to get through, but he didn't try too hard.

Everyone else got down and helped pull him back. Peter fell to the ground, onto his knees. 

"Cam..." He whispered.

"Wow." Rocket said, looking into the dome. "That girl, is amazing."

They all looked into the dome. The small figure in a full black cloak was attacking Thanos using a small sword. Somehow, after blocking a punch, the sword didn't break. The girl swung around and gave the titan's arm a large slice. It didn't do much, but it was a long cut. More than what any of them could do on their own. 

After a few minutes of watching the fight, seeing the different spells that they both were using. It was crazy.

"What is she going against?" Gamora asked quietly. "About how many infinity stones?"

Strange answered. "Three at most. But...this is imposable."

"What's her deal?" Rocket asked. "I need whatever that is."

"A bracelet." Spider-Kid told him. "A magical black bracelet."

"That's lame."

"Is that lame?" The kid pointed to the girl as she summoned another sword and slashed them both at Thanos's chest.

"I need that bracelet."

Then, as in horror, Cammie was slapped hard against her chest, and was thrown into the force field. Her body was electrocuted as she hit the field and then she fell to the ground. She didn't move.

Stark's voice spoke in Quill's ear.  _ "Quill, you have sight on Cam and Thanos?" _

"Uh…Yes?" Quill watched as her body was still. "She's fighting Thanos, and losing."

Stark cursed.  _ "Well, why aren't you helping her?" _

"We can't! Strange hasn't been able to get in!"

_ "We're going to your location. We'll find a way in." _

The com shut up, and Quill focused on the girl. She was moving slightly, trying to get up. 

"So, young Mura, have you given up on the fight?" The mad titan asked. "I would really hate having to kill you."

She pulled herself to her feet, using her sword to hold her up. She hugged her sides, and a slight glow came from her hands.

"No..." She looked up at him, using one of her hands to pull up her sword from the ground. "I'm not going to give up."

"So you'll let me kill you? Right in front of your friends?"

"Sure." She held her sword behind her in an attack position. "Because I'll die so they don't."

"What about the force field? It'll go down when you die."

"Nope." They could hear the smile in her voice. "You kill me, and you're stuck here forever. The only escape is death."

Thanos shouted and blasted a blue bolt at her. She jumped out of the way and the force field shook. A whimper came from the Spider Kid. 

She stood confidently. "You know, if you confronted me before you originally killed half the universe, I wouldn't have cared. But now, I'm not letting you leave alive."

"Why would have not cared, young Mura?" The titan asked, surprised. Those watching were just as surprised. 

"Because I didn't have anything before. Really, I still don't." She held up her hands, like a surrender. "But, I watched everyone around me turn to dust. I watched my only friend Hannan turn to dust.  _ I  _ even began to turn to dust. It scared me. And I don't want that to happen again."

Thanos tried to hit her again, but she dodged. She threw a small dagger before Thanos could react and he was hit in the shoulder blade. 

"How does she remember that?" Quill asked. "It was wiped from everyone's memory!"

"The infinity stones must not work on her." Peter said, standing up. "She's not human. She's Mura."

"Mura?" Gamora, Quill, and Rocket asked at the same time. 

"That's what Thanos called her. 'Young Mura'." Peter watched as Cammie taunted Thanos. "What's a Mura?"

"A mysterious race that lives isolated on a certain planet." Gamora told him. "They're said to be really smart, and really talented. But if she  _ is _ Mura, and she is this strong, than she is more like a god than Thor."

Footsteps came from behind them. Turning around, the rest of the Avengers and Guardians appeared. The metal arm guy ran up to the force field, but he didn't touch it. The others stood a decent distance away, and watched the fight.

"How are we going to help her?" The metal arm guy asked nervously.

"We can't. This...This is all up to her." Stark told him. "What's she fighting against?"

"About the power of three infinity stones." Strange told him. "Three infinity stones and an angry titan that took us forever to defeat. And we clearly didn't do it right the first time."

"Well, what can we do to help her?"

"Nothing." Captain America said, walking up and setting a hand on Metal arm guy's shoulder. "It's all in her hands."

\--

Cammie knew that this charade wasn't going to last long. The pain in her sides and back from the force field still hurt. It reminded her of when she had been kidnapped. So bad...

Well, if she was going to die, than now would be a great time.

She kept dodging Thanos's attacks, trying to figure out a plan to kill the titan. For the last time. 

Fire wouldn't do it. None of what she was good at.

What if...

What if she was able to physically destroy Thanos from the inside? Blow up his heart, make him unrevivable. 

It was the only thing she could do.

She dodged his attack and teleported onto Thanos's back. Quickly, she looked at the Avengers and the Guardians. 

They were all there, watching her. Bucky, Steve, and Peter were basically on the force field. They were terrified. All of them.

She could easily die from killing Thanos.

_ I love you all. _

Lowering the force field, she closed her eyes and felt her remaining energy flood into Thanos's veins. Straight to his hearts, to his lungs. 

She made them explode.

She made them turn to dust.

She made them disappear.

As Thanos fell to the ground, his body fully destroyed, Cammie's fully limp body fell down on the other side.

Her inner voice whispered in her ear.

_ Thank you, my little girl.  _

You're welcome, Father.

\--

As the force field fell, Bucky froze. It wouldn't have fallen, unless...

This was the end.

But the Thanos began to glow, and there was a loud  _ pop _ . Then, after a second, he fell to the ground. 

From his back, the limp form of Cammie fell from his back. Her clothes were back to her pajama shorts and tank top.

No...

At the same exact time, Bucky and Peter began to run.

When they both got to her side, Bucky quickly checked for her pulse.

Faint. To faint...

Was it actually a pulse?

"Is there one?" Peter asked, his voice cracking.

"Yes, but it's faint." Bucky quickly picked up the girl. Her black bracelet fell off of her wrist. Peter picked it up and followed Bucky.

“She’s been to the Med Bay to much.” Peter whispered to himself.

Bucky sighed. “Ya, I know. But...at least she’s alive. We’ll tell her to take a break from superheroing.”

"I hope she does." Peter looked at the girl. "I...I can't lose her."

"None of us can, kid. That's why were helping her." Bucky told the kid, as Bruce ran over.

"I didn't see what...happened." Bruce noticed Thanos, and the crazy amount of blood around him. Bruce cursed heavily. "She has a pulse, right?"

"It's faint." Bucky told him. Quickly, Bruce called over a medical team and they got to work with keeping Cammie alive. Bucky pulled Peter away in case something bad happened that he didn't need to see.

All of the Avengers and Guardians stood next to each other in silence.

Suddenly, Quill broke the silence.

"Did we just get majorly one-upped by a sixteen year old?" He asked, seemingly loudly.

"Well, kids have that effect on you." Tony replied. "Mostly those superhero teenagers."

He looked at Peter, but Peter didn't look back.


	21. Chapter 21--Revision

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Okay, this is the end of Part 1 of Unsuspecting!  
> I hope you like the end!

After the fight with Thanos, which had gone much better than the previous ones, everything was quickly cleaned up. Thanos's corpse was sent to the government, for some mysterious reason. All of the other corpses were burnt out on the countryside.

The Guardians and Thor went back to their home planets. They were all worried for the small girl who had maybe died killing the mad titan, but they couldn't stay. They had their own jobs to do.

But the Avengers were all worried for Cammie. Even though they had only known her for a few months, she had gotten close to most of them. She had saved all of them so many times. All of them had to make sure that she came out alive. Both Bruce and Strange were working non-stop, doing all that they could do. 

The rest of them were scattered around the Compound. Steve was in the gym. Clint was in the vents doing Clint-things. Bucky, Sam, and Natasha had all gone on a run. Tony was working in his lab. Wanda was in her room, watching a movie. And Peter way laying on his bed.

None of them knew what to do. None of them knew what was going to happen.

They just had to hope.

\--

Cammie had ended up in some weird, dreamy world. It was a large meadow, full of flowers and bright green grass. There was the sound of rivers in the distance.

"Wow, am I dead?" She asked aloud.

A sudden chill filled the air. Cammie fell to her knees, hugging herself as visions filled her head. 

The cries of little kids. The shouts of adults. Screams. Tears.

When the dust brushed against her side, she knew she was back.

Cammie stood up, and looked around. It was all to familiar.

"Cam?" A voice in front of her whimpered. Bolting her head around, she saw her best friend in front of her. Hannan stared at her hand, which was turning to dust. 

She saw his arm turning to dust already. She tried to get to him.

"I'll meet you on the other side." He said, as his face turned to dust and he was gone. Her arm had come back, and she was left grabbing piles of Hannan's ashes. Tears fell from her eyes. 

"No...Han..." She began to cry. Seeing his death once more was rough. But Cammie also remembered what she'd done to him once he was back. Ditching him, leaving him like he was no better than dirt.

 _Now, can you see? Can you see what you've done?_ A cold voice spoke into her ear. Instantly, the area was gone. 

She was in her dimly-lit house.

A slightly younger version of her stood at the phone, a shocked expression on her face. Once the call ended, the phone was on the floor, and the girl fell to the ground, sobbing. Sobbing for her dead family.

 _You could have saved them. You could have had them come back._ The dark voice said.  _But you brought back two useless superheroes instead. You took your only revival card, and threw it in the trash!_

_Now, do you know what you need to do?_

No...No, I can fight!

_You'll be fighting for a bunch of strangers. Come with me, little girl. You'll see your family again._

They are my family! I love them!

_So you'd rather be with a bunch of people you barely know, who don't even want you, than to be with your parents again?_

They want me to come back!

_If they did, then why did they let you fight Thanos on your own? Why didn't they help you?_

Because...

Because...

_Why did they never get you any help? Why did Dr. Banner never give you anything for your depression? Why didn't Peter tell Tony? Why didn't Bucky or Steve try to comfort you? Why didn't they try to get the darkness away?_

Because...

Tears began to roll down Cammie's face. She felt like a kid again, being alone on the playground, without any friends.

Because they want me dead.

_Good girl. You finally see the truth. You finally see that the darkness inside you cannot be diminished._

_Would you like to tell them goodbye?_

Yes. Please.

A piece of notebook paper and a mechanical pencil fell before Cammie.

"No, Cam!" A familiar voice spoke, but it was faint. "You're being lied to!"

"I'm...sorry...Father..." She sobbed as she wrote down a message on the paper. "But...I can't..."

Her father tried to speak to her, tried to tell her something, but she didn't hear it.

She wrote down the last lines of her message, and dropped her pencil. The paper disappeared. 

_Is it time, young child?_

Yes. Wake me up.

Let me die.

\--

Bucky had been watching over Cammie in her hospital room. He knew what to do if something happened, so he was on a shift in case one of those things  _did_ happen.

But, after waiting for awhile, Bucky decided to quickly use the bathroom.

Oh, how he regretted it.

\--

Cammie's eyes flashed open. In her hand was the note she'd written. She knew what she had to do.

In a flash, she'd gotten herself hooked out of all of the machines that were keeping her alive. She didn't need them anymore.

Bolting up from her bed, Cammie pulled the door open and ran out of the room.

"What?" A voice said from behind her. "Cammie! Cammie!"

 _I'm sorry, Bucky._ She thought with tears.  _Oh, I'm so sorry. You, and Peter, and everyone..._

_I'm so sorry._

She ran up the stairs, getting to the roof. Bucky was right at her heels. Somehow, she was able to outrun him.

More footsteps joined the ones already chasing her, and more voices cried out her name. But she couldn't tell whose they were. She was apologizing in her head, crying heavily. She pulled open the door to the roof, and sprinted to the edge. 

But just as she was about to jump, something pulled her back. Not very far, but she fell onto her back. Instantly, she stood up, and backed up to the edge. Cammie faced the people behind her.

All of the people she'd begun to love were there. Bucky, Tony, Steve, Clint, Nat, Dr. Banner, Peter. A web was on the ground. Peter had tried to pull her back. But now, none of them moved.

"Cam...Come here..." Tony said, nervously, holding his hand out. "You don't have to do this."

"Yes, I do." She replied. "I have to make the voices stop."

Peter took a step forward. "Please, Cammie..." He said with tears in his eyes. She wanted to wipe them away, but she didn't move. "We'll help you."

"How do I know that?" She barked at him, scaring him. "You didn't help me before! Why would you help me now?"

"We didn't have any time." Peter replied. Cammie, knowing that this wouldn't end, bent down and let her note at her feet, keeping in in place with a small chunk of concrete. Then, she hung one foot back off the roof.

"I'm sorry." She said aloud, so everyone could hear. "I love you. I love you all."

She fell off.

\--

As the girl he'd loved fell off the roof, to her death, Peter knew that he'd messed something up. Messed everything up.

He ran over, ready to catch her with a web. But when he got to the edge, she had already landed. The ground below her was bloody.

She was gone.

Cammie was gone.

He fell to his knees, crying. Slowly, everyone around him walked over, and stood there. It was silent.

After a few minutes of crying, Peter noticed a small piece of paper under a rock. He picked it up, knowing what it was.

 

_Dear Everyone,_

_I am so, so sorry. I didn't want to. But it was what was needed._

_I wish I was still there, still able to see your smiles. To play games_

_and watch movies and eat out with all of you. But I can't._

_I know this now._

_I love you all. I'm sorry that things had to end this way. But I_

_wasn't important enough._

_Don't worry, I'm going to see you all again. But I hope not_

_for a long time. Because it means that you lived a long,_

_happy life._

_Again, I love you all. Again, I'm sorry._

_But I want to see my family again._

_Goodbye,_

_Camilla (Cammie) Akia Laurin_

 

Tears were already on the paper. It made the whole note worse.

Peter stood up and backed away from the edge. He couldn't be there anymore. He knew that this would bring. He didn't want to face it again.

Dark times were ahead.

And he just lost one of his best friends.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hehe.  
> What's a happy ending?  
> It's not this.
> 
> I'm sorry that I didn't put any warnings on the top, but it would have spoiled the ending. 
> 
> Don't worry. We aren't done yet. :)


End file.
